Mass Transition
by Frontier Productions
Summary: Death. No one knows what happens after such a tragic event occurs. After being killed by rolling his new truck, Tyler Odom, a normal-ish teenage boy is about to find out what the word Afterlife really means. -Some Mature Language and Scenarios-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Destiny's Will...**

"Dude, I'm telling you, Battlefield 3 was better than Modern Warfare 3. Better graphics, gameplay, and story. Modern Warfare didn't stand a chance," the long-haired, rounded, teen spoke in a calm voice but was still able to put such authority into it that he could almost convince anyone... almost.

"Nuh-uh Jason, Battlefield 3 may have had better gameplay but MW3 had a better storyline. In the graphics department, I'd consider them equal," the teen that had spoke was drastically skinnier than Jason. Wearing a full uniform of BDUs, hat included, he looked like he was trying to impersonate his father. Two patches decorated the front of the chest pockets that distinguished them from what were now relics among the armed forces. One was decorated with an outline of a scholarly lantern in blue thread at the bottom while a yellow delta decorated the top. Stitched in blue thread were the words "Air Force" in an arc above the delta and below the delta were the words "Junior ROTC". The other patch was the JROTC unit patch for his specific corps. It consisted of the New Mexico Zia symbol with a tiger stepping through the ring and a F-117 flying above the upper-right of the ring. Stitched around it were the words "Alamogordo High School New Mexico 20011 AFJROTC".

"What the hell are you two arguing about now?" questioned a stout girl walking to the left of the two teens. She also wore a set of JROTC BDUs, though the rank pinned onto her collar contained more stripes than the boy's did.

"Well," began Jason with a half-shrug, "Tyler here thinks that MW3 is better than Battlefield 3."

"What?" the girl, Katy, glanced to her left after the trio stepped off a bed of rocks that surrounded a large concrete pad. Shaking her head, she looked back at the two, "I got to go to practice, but we're continuing this conversation tomorrow."

"It's a date than," Tyler quipped with a smirk on his face. Katy gave him a glare in return, the corner of lips turning up in a small smile before she turned away and strode purposefully towards the door leading back into the school. Around the two teens, other kids walked towards some unknown destination. With it being that school had just ended, they were most likely heading home or heading to some mode of transportation that would take them home. Most of them wore normal jeans and shirt but there were a few wearing BDUs.

"See ya tomorrow Jason," Tyler said with a small wave as he walked past the other kid to head to the right of the school, away from the long line of buses.

"See ya," Jason responded as he continued to waddle across the front lawn of the school, heading home.

Crossing an outdoor eating area, Tyler stepped onto a sidewalk and began to follow it across a short bridge and towards a busy intersection. Cars of all makes and models drove past him, some pulling over to pick up their kids before rejoining the line of cars. Other kids walked along the sidewalk across the road from him, a few were in front of him and probably more were behind him. The two-lane road was awfully congested in the morning, before-school, at lunch, and after school with kids trying to come or go, parents dropping off/picking up kids, or just people trying to get home from work.

Reaching the intersection, and the handful of kids already waiting there, Tyler adjusted his backpack and hat as he waited for the light to change and the little white sign to tell him it was safe to cross. He wasn't all that distinguishable, being around 5'11" in height, 140 pounds in weight, and with brown hair and hazel eyes decorating his face, he could be easily lost in a crowd if he wore the right clothing and if someone didn't know what they were looking for. The only physical aspect that could seen would be his long eyelashes, which always drew him undue attention when his parents dragged him to a "party" or introduced him to their friends.

His posture and attitude, however, were immensely different from most around him. Tyler stood with his back straight and shoulder back in what most would convey as a confident stance yet he walked with his eyes scanning the ground in front of his feet when he was around people, especially strangers. To anyone looking at him, he would seem at peace with the world... until his head would snap up and a short stare would be sent towards the person looking at him, the hazel eyes filling with paranoia as they scanned the person inquisitively. His walk was of a normal gait for someone his size however each step emanated a sense of purpose in life, while also emanating a feeling that he was walking towards ever-lasting damnation.

When the light finally changed, Tyler strode across the street with a bit more speed than was normal so as to make it before the light changed once more. Once he was across, he turned and began to cross a patch of dried dirt that would bring him onto the asphalt of a large parking lot. His eyes remained fixated on the path directly in front of his feet, only glancing up every so often to scan what was in front of him and to make sure that he was still heading towards the white truck parked away from the rest of the vehicles in the lot.

Producing his keys from his pants pocket, Tyler reached the white '09 F-150. After opening the door and climbing in, tossing his black backpack onto the passenger seat, the teen put the key into the ignition and turned it. With a roar, the truck came to life and an enthusiastic voice came through the truck's speakers,

"...and your listening to 94 KYEE, the Tularosa Basin's station for continuous hits. Up next, it's "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry."

"_If I die young, bury me in satin_

_Lay me down on a bed of roses_

_Sink me in the river at dawn_

_Send me away with the words of a love song..."_

Tyler tuned out the song as he shifted the truck into "Drive" and pressed the gas. With a small buck the truck went forward. Steering carefully around the other cars and kids, Tyler ended up at the stop sign where he would have to join the bedlam that was large-scale vehicular transportation. A thought brought forth a chuckle from his lips, _Hell, even Shepard, Garrus, and them had to deal with traffic and that was some odd years in the future._

Seeing an opening, Tyler gunned the accelerator and swung the truck to the right to enter the Eastbound traffic of the four-lane street. Bumper-to-bumper traffic at 15 miles per hour was really a piece of cake but it pissed Tyler off to no end. He wanted to get off this road and onto one of the main highways where he could legally go to about seventy.

Soon, he exited the school zone and traffic began to thin as people turned off to go home or to some other place. Changing into the left lane, Tyler sped up as the road cleared. The speed limit was thirty-five but he found himself pushing fifty in just a few seconds. The buzzing of his phone, drew his attention. He had been expecting a text from one of the girls he hung out with but not one this early. Taking a hand off of the wheel, he dug in his pocket, fishing out the blocky smart-phone.

Holding it in his lap, he began to access the text message. He was vaguely aware that "If I Die Young" was still playing in the background as he read the message aloud, though he was the only one in the truck,

"Have something to tell you tomorrow at school. Be careful. Smiley face."

With a smile, Tyler looked up over the dashboard...

to see that he was about to enter an intersection going sixty miles per hour where the road across from him was blocked off with cement blocks. Yanking the wheel to his left, the truck obeyed before it began to tip to it's side, unable to cope with such a sharp turn at those speeds.

Time seemed to slow as the truck continued to tip. Tyler was able to see the shocked expression of the driver of the car stopped at the Stop sign that would have been to his left had he stopped at his own sign. He could see the chain-link fence of the batting cages and the large dust devil raging havoc in the plains outside of the city.

His head whipped to the right where he saw the pavement coming up to meet the truck with a vengeance. The black bag began to fall towards the window and the impromptu grocery bag trash bag began to spill it's contents towards the passenger window. Before the mirror of the truck struck the ground, the sheer adrenaline and fear caused Tyler's body to shut down.

Before he fainted, as it would be called, one thought echoed in his head,

_Not again..._

**A/N: That's the end of Chapter One. This is a self-insert, in a way, but I just can't write in first person. I ****like to have some sort of... detached feeling, I guess it would be, from my characters. Anyways, I hoped you enjoy this chapter and I should have the next one out some time soon. So, I'll see ya than.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Two**

**...Is Resolute**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**...Is Resolute**

Slowly, thought and his sense of orientation came back to Tyler. His first thought was,_ At least I'm not sideways this time_. The last time he had rolled his truck, it ended up on it's side with him hanging by the seatbelt. In his delusional state, he had released the seatbelt, causeing him to fall from the driver seat to the passenger side and hit his head on the window, which was surprisingly intact. In order to remove himself from the vehicle, he had taken the time to roll down the driver side window before climbing out.

When a sense of feeling returned, he realized that he was not sitting in the fabric seat of his truck, but was instead sitting on a cold, metal flooring with his back against what felt like a wall. He felt no pain, which sent him into a panic. _Holy crap, I'm dead! But... I can't be dead, not from something as stupid as that! _What felt to be a foot than hit the sole of his boot and a clearly feminine voice drifted into his ears.

"Hey, wake up. You can't sleep here, the cops might cuff you and drag you off."

Tyler's grunted in reply as he blearily opened his eyes. _Must have all been a dream._ He thought to himself as he looked down at his lap. Sure enough, the floor was made of a metallic material. To his immediate left, he saw a weird planting box. It looked like a storage crate with some orange marking on it.

Another kick to his boot turned his attention to the person standing above him. His eyes traveled up the slender legs and rounded waist but were than caught by the blue hands. _What the hell? It's either really cold or those are some real skin-tight gloves. Judging by how I feel, I'd say it's the latter. _His eyes continued to travel up until they were locked onto her face. Or rather... _it's _face.

"Holy shit." Tyler cursed, immediately wishing he hadn't as a look of disdain came across her, it's, features. The entire head was the same blue color as her hands and her "hair" was more like tentacles that were swooped back as if they were coated in gel. A rotating, white circle to her left drew his attention. It seemed real and yet unreal at the same time. What looked like water flowed on the walls of the stairs behind the blue woman but it seemed to stop way too suddenly to actually be water and he could hear none of the soothing noises that water made.

Massaging his temples, Tyler looked at his lap and screwed his eyes shut. He had seen all of this before somewhere. The woman, the circle, the water-like object. He had seen it all before but just couldn't remember where. If only he had someone like the Shadow Broker to get information for him... wait a second.

Opening his eyes, Tyler once more scanned the woman, the circle, and the water-like appearance. Leaning forward, he peeked around the planting box and looked through a large doorway where he could see humans, more blue women, and other vaguely familiar creatures milling about and conversing with one another. It hit him like a brick wall and all he could utter was,

"Holy shit!"

Slamming his back against the wall once more, his breathing picked up in pace, as did his heart rate. The blue woman, Asari (he remembered now), shushed him violently.

"Please don't use such harsh language," she said to Tyler. Under his breath, the teenage boy was muttering even more obscenities. A calm voice emanated from the back of his head,

_Calm down. Just calm the hell down. Act cool, they don't know your from the past. Find out what happened to Shepard. What year it is._

After slowing his breathing and heart-rate, Tyler looked up at the Asari's face and, as calmly as he could, asked,

"What year is it?"

Her look of surprise was priceless but it quickly turned to one of ridicule. Tyler held back his wanting to yell at her.

"It's 2181 in your years, Human," she replied, using the word "Human" as an insult. O_h fuck you too, you damn alien bitch. Jesus Christ..._

Lifting himself from the ground and brushing himself off, Tyler muttered a "thank you". Without waiting for a reply, the confused and bewildered teen walked off towards the large doorway in an even stride. Passing many conversing beings, he noticed that a good amount of them were giving him stranger looks and finally realized how much he must stand out amongst the crowd, dressed in his BDUs. They were comfortable clothes but he needed to fit in just a little more since it already seemed he may be stuck here. And, if it was a dream (which he seriously doubted it was considering that his vision wasn't blurry), what would selling his possessions really hurt?

Passing through the doorway, the teen glanced to his left to see what appeared to be a store through yet another large doorway. _What the hell is with them and large doorways. _The thought was quickly dismissed, however, as he read the store's name above the doorway.

"Citadel Souvenirs. Hell yes. Exactly what I was looking for." he muttered to himself. A couple of nearby "citizens" as they were called glanced at him before returning to their conversations or continuing on their route.

Ignoring the looks, Tyler strode into the store and approached the clerk. He knew she had a name but couldn't remember it. The intensity of the look she gave him told him that she had been assessing his outfit since he walked through the doorway.

"Why hello citizen." she greeted. Tyler waved his hand dismissively before quickly taking off the BDU blouse, revealing a black shirt underneath that sported the, now ancient, US Air Force coat of arms on the left pec and the Air Force wing on the back. Words informed whoever looked at the shirt that he was a member of the "United States Air Force Junior ROTC" program.

"What are you doing?" the Asari clerk questioned with a slight sense of amusement in her voice. Tyler simply set the jacket on the counter space between the terminal and the electronic catalog.

"How much will you pay me for this jacket? It was part of the clothing worn by the most esteemed military of ancient Earth." Tyler asked of her, quickly throwing in the part of ancient Earth as bait. The clerk looked intrigued as she set her hand under her chin and examined the jacket. She than peeked over the counter at the pants and opened her mouth to speak. Tyler beat her to the punch,

"The pants aren't for sale. They are comfortable, versatile, and the only pair that I got right now. So unless you want me leaving your store in a shirt, undies, and boots, the pants aren't for sale." A shade of purple appeared on her cheeks before Tyler continued by taking off the cap and tossing it on top of the jacket, "But I will toss in the hat as that is of no use to me."

The clerk started to examine the items and, after doing a quick calculation, looked back up at Tyler.

"This is called Citadel Souvenirs but someone would want this. The lack of having it as a complete set will hurt the price, however. If what you said was true and it was part of the outfit worn by one of your ancient militaries than I am willing to buy these from you for... 75,000 credits."

A frown formed upon Tyler's face but he nodded his head solemnly. He wasn't good at bartering and he knew that the 75k would at least get him armor from that Rodam place, which he was sure was upstairs. Maybe even a gun, if the Citadel permitted weapons to be carried. An assault rifle would be nice but he would probably have to settle for a pistol.

The clerk smiled cheerfully as she scooped the clothing off the counter, tucking it away underneath, before she pulled out a small rectangle that displayed the number "75,000" upon in holographic lettering. Setting them on the counter, she scooted them towards Tyler.

"There, 75,000 credits."

Scooping it off the counter, and stashing it in one of the cargo pockets, Tyler pulled out his leather wallet and Droid smart-phone. Setting the phone on the counter, the clerk instantly picked it up and began to examine it with a look of pure curiosity. Ignoring her, Tyler opened the wallet up, revealing a picture of his family. In the picture were his mom, dad, little brother, and himself. Behind that picture was another picture of his older brother dressed in DCUs with body armor and a rifle, standing next to a gun truck somewhere in Afghanistan. Being a Naval Seabee, he was deployed... a lot.

Removing the two pictures, and placing them in his pocket, Tyler emptied out the wallet's contents on the counter before placing the wallet itself on the counter. In the wallet was $60 in paper, American, money, a Wells Fargo debit card, useless now, two Wal-Mart gift cards, and a bank card.

The clerk descended upon the items like an owl upon a rodent. Confusion, Curiosity, and Excitement swept across her face as she examined the items. Looking up at the teen, she motioned to the paper money.

"I assume this is ancient Earth currency, correct?" A nod from Tyler made her smile before she motioned towards the assortment of cards, "And these are?"

"A different form of currency. Money stored in a bank could be accessed by swiping this card during a purchase," he explained, tapping his index finger against the debit card, "These cards held monetary values by themselves but could only be spent at certain stores," this time he tapped on the two Wal-Mart cards with both his index and middle fingers, "And this card was used to withdraw or deposit money into one's bank account," after tapping his index finger on the bank card, Tyler drew back his hand and looked up at the Asari.

"And what is this?" she asked, holding up the smart-phone.

"A phone," Tyler replied before going into detail, "It was used to contact someone over long-distances, browse the internet, and was able to do an assortment of other things." Tyler paused shortly before adding, "It's kinda of like an Omni-Tool but without it being holographic, and able to apply Omni-gel or Medi-gel."

The clerk rose her head and mumbled an "Ah" in understanding. After doing yet another calculation in her head, she looked Tyler in the face before saying,

"I'll give her 120,000 credits for all of this. The fact that this... phone is still working is amazing and can be sold to a museum, as well as these forms of currency. Do we have a deal?"

Tyler's jaw had dropped at the price of those items. _Holy shit. And to think my dad technically got that phone for free. And he was the one who got me the debit card. _A wave of sadness swept over him as he remembered that he would not be able to see them anymore, or at least for awhile. Recovering quickly, however, he nodded his head heartily.

The clerk smiled widely as she scooped the items into her hands and set them under the counter before asking for the credit chit. Fumbling about, Tyler produced the chit and handed it to her. As she transferred the money over to the chit, Tyler just had to ask,

"How come you gave me a credit chit and didn't ask for one?"

"Because you didn't seem to be carrying one or else it would have already been out, ready to accept the credits," she replied with a smirk. Tyler nodded as he mumbled an "I see".

After being handed back the credit chit, now displaying the number "195,000" upon it, Tyler once more shoved it into his cargo pocket before bidding the clerk goodbye. Turning about, he walked out of the small store and back into what he could only describe as a common area. Two things he had not sold the clerk was his ID and Driver's License. Those had too much discriminating information that was readily seen that would draw way too much attention to him.

Turning to his right, the now money-wielding teen, walk back to where he had been awaken. Still ignoring the glances, but actively scanning the crowd, Tyler made his way to the staircase and began to climb. Reaching the landing, he followed it around and climbed some more. As he was climbing, he couldn't help but wonder why the hell the Citadel didn't have such things as escalators. Some hundred years in the future, with humanity spreading across the galaxy like Locust, and yet escalators seemed to be nowhere.

Reaching the top of the stays, Tyler walked under another spinning circle, through a smaller door, and into the Rodam Expenditures store. The Turian behind the counter stared at him as he entered. Approaching the counter, Tyler stood slightly at attention in front of it.

"Human," the Turian greeted simply.

"Turian. I am searching for armor and guns. I heard that this is the best place to get said items for hunting the most dangerous game in the galaxy, mercenaries and just general criminals. Think you can help me in this matter?" Tyler spoke with a calm, yet mature voice. He was trying to appeal to the Turian's sense of the hunt, as he remembered part of the discount conversation with him from ME2.

"You heard right human. This is the best place for guns and armor on the Citadel and you are hunting some dangerous game. I think that I can help," the Turian stated as he leaned back on one leg and crossed his arms, "What models are you interested in?"

"I need something that offers mobility. I was think of something more along the lines of a vest that would cover the torso but allow maximum maneuverability of the arms and legs. As for a weapon, I'd favor an Assault Rifle and Pistol combo but the armor comes first and if I can't afford an Assault Rifle afterward than I will just purchase a Pistol," Tyler explained. The Turian looked at him thoughtfully.

"Mobility. But you still want adequate protection," the Turian thought for a moment longer before nodding his head, "Yeah, I think I got something that fits that. One second."

The Turian stepped back and began to dig through some of the crates behind the counter. After spending a few minutes doing it, he pulled out what looked to be the Aegis Vest from ME2, complete with a collar and the upturned plate at the front that reminded Tyler of Dead Space 2 armor.

"Here we are. This should fit perfectly to your needs," he stated as he laid it out upon the counter. Tyler nodded appreciatively,

"Mind if I try it on?" he asked seriously. The Turian shrugged but didn't respond. Grabbing the vest, Tyler carefully slid his arms into it and let it slide down, his head fitting perfectly in the collar. Adjusting some straps on the armor made it fit a bit more snugly.

"I like it. How much?" Tyler asked as he fished out the credit chit. _Still have to buy an Omni-Tool_ he reminded himself. Though he would like nice armor and weapons, he couldn't have everything and still expect to have some extra credits for food and the like. If it was the year 2181 than Shepard wouldn't be around for two years. Tyler already had an extremely weak plan formulating but he needed weapons and armor if he was to make it work. He needed to look intimidating.

He needed to join the Blue Suns.

"3,000 credits," the Turian answered as he nodded at how it looked on Tyler. The human teen set the chit down on the counter, allowing it to be scanned by the Turian.

"How much for a pistol?"

"Depends on the model and attachments."

Tyler was stumped. How the hell would he remember the model names of the pistols? All he knew about them was that they folded/unfolded real pretty like and put clean holes through the people trying to kill you. _Goddamn it. Well, here's one for winging it._

"I think my friend said to get the model that started with an H..."

The Turian closed his hand and set it under his... chin, or whatever they called the area underneath their jaws. After thinking for a moment, he seemed to smile and shake one sharp, pointed talon at Tyler. Turning once more, he dug into the crates again. Tyler let out a small sigh, _Thank god. I wouldn't wanna look like an idiot in front of this guy. _After awhile of digging, the Turian came back to the counter with what looked like the starter pistol from ME2. It was differently colored, however, so it had to be one of the pistols from ME1.

"This is a Harpy I," the Turian began, "it has a nice amount of kick, doesn't overheat quickly, and is pretty damned accurate. Another interesting aspect is that a magnet on the vest, under your left arm, will attract a magnet in the pistol and keep it secured in place." the Turian chuckled, "Just remember to keep that side away from your enemy when in close-combat."

Tyler smiled at the way he described the pistol. It seemed like a fine piece of work for shooters, just like the Mona Lisa was for artists. _Even though Mona Lisa was an ugly son of a bitch._

"How much?" Tyler asked, trying to hold back at a chuckle about his wandering thoughts.

"6,500 credits. This is a nice pistol and I can't just be tossing them around," the Turian explained. Tyler waved at his credit chit, which still sat on the counter-top. The Turian smiled and, after setting the pistol on the counter, took the chit and swiped it once more. As Tyler picked up the pistol and holstered it under his left arm, much like Shepard did in the game, he watched in dismay as the holographic number on the chit quickly dwindled. The new number, "186500", shined brightly upon it. _With how much this costs, I should be able to get a rifle, a pack of food and supplies, an Omni-Tool and still have enough to try to bribe a freight captain to take me to Omega. From there, it's just a matter of either them coming to me or me finding them. Either way, this should be interesting enough._

As the credit chit was set back down on the counter, Tyler set his palm against the blue top and leaned forward. He knew the rifle he wanted, as he had stared at it before on the Mass Effect wiki site. It looked nice and was apparently semi-auto, which would be nice to have. And if the Illusive Man's message that they posted on the site hadn't been utter bullshit, it should have been in circulation now.

"You don't happen to have a Mattock rifle in stock, do ya?" Tyler asked. The Turian seemed a bit surprised at the question and huffed.

"I sell guns kid. Even guns that no one's ever heard of, I got. One second." he said before he went back to digging through crates. Soon, he came back with the glorious rifle. To Tyler it looked greatly like a mix between the Battle Rifle and Assault Rifle from the Halo series. The black stock seemed to be hidden by the overall steel color of the body of the weapon.

The Turian gently set it down upon the counter, "This will cost ya 8,000 credits Mister Rich."

Tyler smiled widely as he waved for the Turian to swipe the chit. Grabbing the rifle, he tested the weight in his hands. It seemed to be a balanced weapon. The lacking of an obvious place for a thermal clip told him that it relied on a internal heat sink and will overheat. _Oh well._

After the Turian swiped the chit and set it back on the counter, Tyler carefully attached the rifle to magnets on the back of the vest so that it was slightly cock-eyed to make it easier to grasp. The teen felt the rifle fold upon itself, bringing yet another smile to Tyler's face.

"Feels good?" the Turian asked with a chuckle.

"Hell yeah," Tyler replied enthusiastically. "If I need anything else that deals death or protects me from it, you'll be the first I call."

The Turian nodded, "I'll be glad to supply you in the future Human. Good luck on your endeavors."

Tyler nodded back before he turned and left the store, after buying a pack. The pack had hard sides, unlock the pack of the 21st century, and would not fold upon itself or be crushed. The new rifle was able to be connected to the side of the pack while the pack itself was magnetized against the back of the vest. Now he had to make his way to a store that sold Omni-Tools. If he remembered correctly, on this level was the game salesman, Rodam, and the bar. Tyler smirked as he remembered the Turian barkeeper who makes the drinking into a game. He thought of going to him and asking him if he knew what was happening around here, just to mess with him. The fact that he had an objective in mind and a deadly rifle on his back deterred him from doing that, however, as he kept in mind that this was serious. The fact that after all he had done, he had not seen a random, giant worm appearing from nowhere or had a random scene change told him that this was definitely not a dream. _God I have weird dreams _he thought to himself, sliding a hand down his face.

Walking back down the stairwell, Tyler began to cross the common area to the Cafe place. In ME2, there was customer arguing with the clerk over the spices and food to use for a date. It was actually pretty funny to listen to. This time, however, there was only one other customer in the room (a Salarian), and he seemed to be browsing the catalog.

Approaching the counter, and the Turian behind it, Tyler noticed how the Turian's eyes seemed to carefully examine what the human wore, especially the weapons. When Tyler reached the counter, however, he looked straight at the human's eyes.

"How can I help you Human?"

"Well," Tyler began as he crossed his arms casually, "I need rations and water. I understand that you view this store as the best around. However, where I'm going, having elaborate ingredients to make complicated food would be useless. I need simple foods that can be cooked on the run and packets of water that could be easily stored."

"I would not normally sell such primitive products to a fine citizen of the Citadel, but you do make a good point Human. Judging by your-er... appearance, I presume that you most certainty will be on the move a lot. I think I got just what your looking for. Where will you store these rations?"

Tyler removed the pack, slowly transferring the rifle from the side of the pack to his back, and set the empty pack upon the counter after opening it. "Three-quarters of this I would like to be filled with the rations," he explained clearly. The Turian nodded before he went and procured said rations. There seemed to be three boxes of what Tyler guessed was food and five plastic bladders of water that the Turian neatly placed into the pack.

"That will be 400 credits, Human."

Fishing out the chit, Tyler set it on the counter. After the Turian swiped it and set it back upon the counter, Tyler returned the chit to the cargo pocket. After returning the pack to his back, transferring the rifle to the side of the pack once more, the human teen muttered a quick "Thanks" before retreating from the store. Being human in a place where most of the clerks were non-human bode well for him as he could purchase items that he normally would not be able to. What also helped him was the fact that he looked aged in itself as he had what his friends and parents called "that look" about him.

After making his down another level, the young teen began to scan this common area for the place he was looking for. To his right was some sort of human cafe and a transit area. _So, probably isn't __**that **__way. _Making up his mind, he turned to the left and strode down the path cautiously, always keeping an eye on the people around him.

Stopping in front of a small doorway with a large window next to it, Tyler glanced up at the name of the storefront. _Saronis Applications. This is the place. _Entering the store, he was greeted by an enthusiastic Salarian clerk,

"Hello, how may I help you today?"

"Is this where I can purchase an Omni-Tool?" Tyler asked seriously as he stopped in front of the counter. The Salarian nodded quickly before responding in the hyper voice that seemed to be natural of his species,

"Why yes, would you like to purchase one?"

"Yes, I would. What model do you recommend?"

"Are you biotic or having to deal with any engineering?"

"No."

"Than I suggest the model. Has everything that the Mk.I has but also includes some special hardware to help someone so," the Salarian gave a quick glance over of the pistol, armor, and rifle before continuing, "prepared as yourself. It come with an upgraded communications module and heat sink, as well as increased speed in it's functioning."

"How much?"

"40,000 Credits."

_Holy shit... _Tyler fished out his credit shit and examined the number glowing upon it while hiding it from the Salarian's eyes. "178,040" was brightly set in it's orange coloring against the gray back-set of the chit. _Goddamn it..._

"I'll take it," Tyler stated as he tossed the chit on the counter, "One question. How do I install it?" he asked with a sheepish smile.

After having the device installed, which was less painful than he thought as it was a handy-dandy projector upon his wrist, and having a crash-course in how to operate it and it's "special functions" Tyler crossed the common area to enter the Sirta Foundation storefront.

_I think I'm going to try the catalog, how hard could it be?_

Approaching the catalog, Tyler looked on the screen and saw the sheer amount of items that the storefront sold. _Well, shit _he thought to himself, _this is a lot more than in the game. _The scroll bar seemed to be just an inch in length and the text was a roughly small size. Luckily, Tyler spotted a search bar at the top of the screen with a blinking cursor already in it.

Using the keyboard on the device, Tyler tapped in the word "Medi-Gel" and hit the enter key. The long list cleared out and was displayed with a profile page, of sorts. It displayed the item's name, function, description, cost, and history, in that order. It than contained a button that simply said "Purchase". Seeing no obvious mouse on the device, Tyler jabbed it with his finger, having the faint idea of how stupid he'd look if it didn't work.

To his surprise, the screen darkened as a message became the forefront of the screen.

"_Please insert quantity"_

A text box than appeared with a button next to it and two underneath it. The two underneath it said "Cancel" and "Continue" while the one next to the box displayed the word "Max". Tyler stabbed the "Max" button with his finger and the message suddenly changed to a different one.

"_Linking with Omni-Tool..._

_Link complete..._

_Information transfer complete._

_Please scan Credit Chit now."_

Tyler looked at the machine and, sure enough, there was a glass window looking thing that housed a little scanner. Fishing out his chit, Tyler allowed it to be scanned and watched as 600 credits dwindled away. Once it was done, Tyler stashed the chit back into his cargo pocket as a new message appeared on screen.

"_Please see the clerk for assistance in the placement of the purchased Medi-Gel."_

The screen than switched back to the large list of the items. Tyler saw the clerk's terminal come to life, drawing her attention away from him and to it. Nodding her head, she held out her hand to Tyler.

"Omni-Tool please," she demanded in a kind tone. Tyler held out the arm that wore the device to her. The Asari woman stripped off the device and retreated to the back of the store. Returning later, she grasped Tyler's arm and slid it back upon his wrist. She than manipulated it until it showed the screen she wanted. The screen seemed to display the amount of Medi-Gel applications he could perform before he ran out of the nanites that made up Medi-Gel. _Ten uses. That's a lot more than the game, actually._

"Fully filled, sir. Thank you for shopping here."

Tyler nodded but than looked thoughtfully at the catalog machine. If he remembered correctly, the Sirta Foundation was about caring for humans in the galaxy. _I wonder..._

"Ma'am," he began, turning to the clerk, "do you sell any hygiene products?"

"Yes, please use the catalog for any purchases," she replied with a forced smile.

_Oh, goddamn it._

**A/N: That's the end of Chapter Two. Don't got much to say but that Chapter Three will be out soon, if all goes well.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Three**

**The Bargaining**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**The Bargaining**

Having purchased a full kit of hygiene supplies, and almost pulling his pistol on the catalog in the process, Tyler left the Sirta Foundation and began to walk along the side of the common area. His path would take him by the warehouse for this district. The area outside the door seemed to be vacant of workers, hell, the entire area near the warehouse entrance was vacant of people. Flanking the door were two humanoid figures in yellow and black armor, armed with assault rifles.

"What the hell are you looking at?" one of the guards asked of Tyler. He turned to his buddy, who chuckled stupidly, as if he saw a video of a dog clapping his paws like hands or something. Tyler stepped walking and just stood and stared at the two mercenaries. He'd have to fight the Eclipse later on with Shepard. Shepard would even have the choice to toss one out the damn window.

"Get lost," the same guard as before barked at him. Looking about the common area, Tyler could see no C-Sec in the area but he could see people staring at him as if he was mentally unstable, which he might have been. Turning back to the guards, Tyler couldn't help but notice the yellow and gray canister that marked something that could go boom if it had some assistance in the matter. Thinking that Tyler was just looking around for who the guard talked to, he piped up again,

"Yeah, I'm talking to you dumbass, get lost before I comer over there and-"

Whatever he was going to say was rudely interrupted by a pistol round piercing the canister, and exploding. The mouthy guard found himself being lifted into the air and tossed into his partner by the force of the explosion. Calmly, Tyler approached the crumpled, intertwined bodies. He could hear one of them still moaning and faintly realized that his pistol hand was shaking. It was funny, he didn't even remember drawing the pistol but he sure did remember the recoil. The pistol almost bobbed him in the nose when it fired.

The guard closest to the canister was definitely dead, a piece of scrap metal jutting from his neck made sure of that. His partner, on the other hand, was still alive even though a piece of shrapnel was sticking out of his leg. Hearing the footsteps end next to him, the wounded human looked as best he could at his attacker.

"Hel-"

His plea was cut off by the resounding boom of the pistol. The shaved piece of metal traveled the short space in the blink of an eye. Forcing it's way through the helmet, the bullet entered the man's head and carved it's way past the brain before exiting the head, and helmet, with a red mist and a matching waterfall. With the guards dispatched, Tyler moved next to the door. Glancing level entrance, Tyler was surprised that a squad of C-Sec wasn't rushing into the place, yelling at Tyler to hit the deck.

_Must be hitting donuts somewhere, _Tyler thought with a grin. No matter where you were or what time period you were in, that stereotype never got old.

Holstering the pistol, Tyler reached back and pulled his rifle into his arms. Letting it unfold, and repositioning his hands when it did, Tyler set the stock against his shoulder as he stood next to the door. _Three, two, one... go! _Swinging into the door, which opened faster than Tyler expected, the armed human moved into the hallway and began to creep down it. Keeping his rifle trained on the door, Tyler continued on down the hallway. He didn't know what was going on in the warehouse but he did know that if the C-Sec dipshits weren't going to take care of it, than he was.

The second door in the hallway, the one leading to the actual warehouse, opened well before it should have. In the doorway stood a startled Salarian in Eclipse armor. In his hands, he wielded a SMG of some sort, but Tyler wasn't exactly interested in what this alien's preference was.

Beating the Salarian to the draw, Tyler rose his Mattock and squeezed the trigger three times in rapid succession before the rifle was even level. With the power of the Mass Effect 2 sniper rifle at it's back, the first round went through the Salarian's shield with a flash of blue before slamming into the floor behind it's right shin, barely missing the armor. The second round drove itself through the armor and into the aliens gut, ripping apart whatever organs it had in there. The third round drilled itself a nice hole through the Salarian's head, exploding out the back in a green mist as the round continued through the air. A metallic cling told Tyler that it either hit someone's armor or it slammed into a wall or crate.

The Salarian had gotten off a burst from his SMG before the third round struck. The lower velocity rounds struck Tyler's armored gut and traveled up in a curving line before leaving his body near the shoulder, barely missing his head, and ending up on the walls and roof before the Salarian's finger finally registered that the alien was dead.

Tyler found himself on his ass, gasping for air as his free left hand traveled across his chest plate with a frantic pace. Not finding any gushing wounds, Tyler put his fear into the back of his mind as he lifted himself back to his feet. Moving into the warehouse proper, Tyler couldn't help but hear gunfire coming from the door to his left. Approaching the door, he frowned when it didn't open automatically.

_Is it locked or something? _He thought to himself as he looked for the activation switch to the side. Finding the base, Tyler frowned when he noticed there wasn't a pad glowing above it, not even the red one that showed that it was locked. The teen concluded that the door was probably broken due to something that had happened on the other side of the sliding metal and glass. As he began to turn away to find another way through, the whirring of gears echoed in the small room of crates.

Hearing it coming from the only other door in the room, it being across the room behind him, Tyler dove into cover behind one of the crates and waited. He took out three of the mercenaries already but, if the game taught him anything, there was always a commander someone that held to be dealt with and Eclipse commanders were usually powerful Asari biotic who got pissed easily and never held back when their only goal was to kill you. In the game, after a biotic attack, you'd just fall limp to the ground. While it was annoying, Tyler knew that it would be different here. If he was hit by a biotic attack now, he'd most likely be killed. If luck was on his side, he'd have most of bones broken but still be alive.

After what felt like weeks to the frightened teen, the door slid open and a distinctly flanging voice filled the room.

"What are we doing here? We need to get in our ship and high-tail it. C-Sec are probably already here and you want to retrieve some OSD? Worst of all, you don't even know what it contains or what your getting paid for transporting it?"

A female voice responded and Tyler felt his stomach leap up into his throat. Asari were female, or their physical appearance and vocal sounds were. However, he had never heard of a Turian in the Eclipse before.

"First of all Talek, its my ship, not yours, and secondly, this is the reason why the Eclipse showed up. Remember what that Asari was saying? She was demanding 'The List'. Whatever the hell that is, I'm positive it is on that OSD. We need to-"

Tyler was leaning further against the crate when he heard the soft clink of his rifle striking the crate. _Shit. First day here and I'm going to die over a stupid ass mistake. I should have just walked past the guards, ignored them. I should have gotten a job at C-Sec. I should have obeyed the speed limit back home. I should have-_

"Come out where we can see you. Now!" the Turian's voice boomed through the room with a presence of authority that Tyler couldn't resist. Slowly, the teen slid his rifle along the floor, into the open before he stood and walked out from behind the crate with his arms held over his head. As he came within view of his captives, he saw two beings aiming different weapons at him. The Turian, with no face paint to see, had his eye planted behind the sights of a Revenant machine-gun. The other person, the female, was a human who had what appeared to be Mass Effect's version of the hand cannon aimed at Tyler's head. He did notice one similarity between the two, however. Their armor was a blue color and sported a white oval with a white circle inside it near the top on the torso plate and pauldrons. _They're Blue Suns..._

Tyler noticed the woman's eyes widen slightly at the teen before her.

"Your just a damn kid." Her eyes than drifted to the hallway. Though the door was closed, the Salarian corpse fully on the other side, the alien's blood stained the ground on their side of the door. If that wasn't sign enough, than the small craters stitching a line up Tyler's armor must have sold it to her.

"You take down those Eclipse, kid?" Her tone sounded truly curious while the Turian's glare told Tyler not to make any stupid moves or sayings. Slowly, Tyler nodded his head.

"Yes... ma'am."

"He probably got lucky," the Turian chimed in, his eyes never leaving the sights for a second. Tyler wasn't stupid enough to make a grab for his weapons if he did look away. He wasn't trying to become the human Archangel. Not here... and definitely not now, anyways.

"Shut it Talek. You don't get lucky taking down Eclipse, especially an Engineer at that," the woman stated truthfully. Though she seemed to approve of Tyler's actions, the dark hole of her pistol's barrel told him otherwise.

"Kid," she continued in a more business-like voice, "you wanna make some money and," a smile came across her face, "see the galaxy?"

Tyler smiled, but for mostly different reasons than she was. _This is your chance, _a voice began to say at the back of his head, _take it. This is the only way, your ill-planned... plan will work._

"What would I do?" Tyler asked. He wasn't born yesterday, everything had a catch. The woman smiled even more,

"Smart kid. It would mean leaving your life behind, working as a guard on my vessel, going through hell, and than going through another hell filled with gunfire and explosions while sometimes going through a purgatory filled with crooked bastards who would swindle you of your balls if you give them the chance." she paused a second for dramatic effect, "You in?"

Tyler couldn't help but chuckle a little. To him it sounded like an Angel had just granted his wish.

"What life?" Tyler began with another chuckle, "I'm in."

The woman nodded and lowered her weapon, signaling for the Turian to do the same. After searching the crates, leaving Tyler standing where he was and the Turian to glare dreadnoughts at the teen, she finally retrieved the OSD with a muttered cheer. Nodding to Tyler's rifle, she ordered,

"Grab you weapon and come on, kid." As she passed the Turian, she gave him a light nudge to the shoulder to get him moving through the door and back to her mystical ship.

Scooping up the discarded rifle, Tyler followed the two Blue Sun mercenaries closely, but not too close. Navigating the hallways and passing by the other rooms, they finally entered a cavernous space that was filled to the brim with crates. In the middle of it all hung a blocky ship that appeared more like a beat-up freighter than something that would be used by the galaxies most deadly mercenary force. However, with the Citadel, it was easier to get on station as a freighter than a fully-armed, Traverse registered, frigate.

No matter how it looked, however, it was the prettiest damned vessel that Tyler had ever seen in his life. To him...

it was the gateway to a new beginning and to the adventures, and horrors, that lay ahead of him.

**A/N: I thank you all for waiting for such a long time. I just received a new laptop for my birthday and replaced my desktop with it immediately. It took some time getting my preferred writing program installed and, even than, it took awhile to get acclimated to typing on the laptop's keyboard.**

**Also, I would like to say, that I appreciate all criticism giving on this story. I had one anonymous reviewer inform me that I had accidently put two numbers in the wrong order in the first chapter. I have fixed the mistake and thank him for pointing it out to me. However, it is hard for me to take a review all that seriously when the reviewer ends up calling me a 'faggot' at the end of the review due to the aforementioned mistake.**

**I respect your views and ideas. I will respect you, as a person, if your reviews include unneeded profanities. If you include unneeded profanities as an anonymous reviewer, than your review will find it's way on the first train to Immaturity Junkyard where it will be dispensed with. If you are a Logged In reviewer, than you may be getting a not-so-friendly reply.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this installment. The next one should be up soon and I apologize for boring you with my rantings.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Four**

**Gateway**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Gateway**

"Madison," the woman from the warehouse called out. Within seconds, another woman in a blue jumpsuit came to stop in front of the armored woman. The Turian, Talek, walked past the two women and move deeper into the ship. The summoned crewmember glanced briefly at Tyler before looking at her superior.

"Show this man around the ship and make sure he has everything he needs for the trip to Omega," the armored woman ordered with a wave of the hand in Tyler's direction. The crewmember nodded smartly,

"Yes ma'am. He a new recruit, ma'am?" she asked, glancing again at the teen. The crewmember, Madison, didn't seem to be much older than Tyler was but, as was a common saying, 'You can't judge a book by it's cover'.

_Wait. Do they even have books anymore? Or is everything on OSDs? _Tyler thought to himself.

"He is," the woman responded before turning to face Tyler, "None of the beds are free so if you find yourself needing to sleep for the short trip than you will have to do so in the cargo bay."

Tyler nodded. _Wouldn't be the first time I had to sleep on the floor._

As the armored woman left, after saying her good-byes, Madison turned fully to face Tyler. Putting all her weight on one leg, she crossed her arms and looked Tyler up-and-down like a retinal scanner might to someone's eye. With some speed, her right hand shot out and seemed to feel around one of the dents in Tyler's torso armor.

_The dents from my lucky encounter with a Salarian Engineer working for the Eclipse. Woo-hoo..._

The under-armored teen stood still feeling awkward about the whole situation. Madison smiled a smile that could be associated with something other than humor.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" she asked. Tyler had to admit that she was relatively attractive. Long, lush brown hair, a smooth face with blue eyes and an hourglass frame. However,

"You are, actually. Where I come from, when someone touches you, you have the right to punch them... hard," he said with as truthful a voice as he could muster and with a serious face.

Her smile quickly left and her withdrew from his armor. Tyler didn't know why, but he hated people touching him, especially people that he had just met for the first time and who he didn't trust. Some of the other crewmembers, who Tyler had noticed, assessed, and a visually tracked since he boarded the vessel, glanced at him cautiously and one of the guards tightened the grip around his rifle. Tyler couldn't help but smirk. First unofficial day as a Blue Sun mercenary and he was already making enemies.

Of course, his goal wasn't to make friends either. His goal was to get some training, get some more creds to his name, maybe pick up a souvenir, and to figure out a way to meet Shepard and get on his/her team without seeming to... convenient about it all. Of course, the way you got most of your crew in ME1 was a little too convenient anyways.

"Well than," Madison started, snapping Tyler out of his thoughts, "where would you like to go first?"

"Cargo bay," Tyler replied without hesitation. He didn't want to explore a ship he'd probably never be on again. He especially wanted to get away from all of these mercenaries so that he could think without worrying that someone was spying on him. Paranoid was good, kept you alive.

Madison seemed to frown gently but nodded, "Okay."

Walking through a maze of hallways, Tyler found himself passing by Turians, Batarians, and Humans in either Blue Suns armor or uniform. They all seemed to stare at Tyler with that, 'You're not one of us' look that the teen used to get from the 'popular' kids at his school when he tried to talk to them. Another thought surged through his head that made him slightly depressed,

_My friends probably think I died in that crash. I wonder if any of them went to the funeral. Did any of them cry?_

Tyler felt a tear of his own welling up but fought it back. He wouldn't shed a tear in front of these mercenaries. He wouldn't show weakness to people who get harassed by a lone Turian with a weird love for Sniper Rifles. Counter-Insurgency seemed to be an unknown idea to these aliens, and most humans it might seem.

"Here we are," Madison informed him as they entered the cargo bay that was partially full of boxes, as a cargo bay should be. Tyler, thankful that Madison had been quiet the entire trip, muttered his thanks to the woman as he stepped into the bay. Madison seemed to want to say something as she hovered in the doorway for a couple seconds. Finally making up her mind, she muttered a good-bye before leaving, the door sliding shut as she did.

Sighing, the seventeen year old kid made his to one of the towers of stacked crated. Removing the pack, and setting it on the ground, Tyler leaned against the crates before fishing out the photos of his family. Looking at them, the teen barely felt a tear slide down his cheek and hang from his lower jaw precariously. He had thought of them once since he got here and that was just a passing thought since he was busy.

Now, as he stared hard at the pictures and the tears continued to flow, he began to think about how his leaving might affect them. They would all be sad, that was for sure. His mom was probably slipping into depression since her dad, his grandpa, was about to pass on as well. His dad would get agitated easier and might be drinking more than just a few beers. His younger brother, at five years of age, might be scarred for the rest of his life at seeing Tyler's body be buried into the Earth. His older brother, the nineteen year old who was an asshole to Tyler at times, would be saddened as well, most likely due to the fact that he was still in Afghanistan when it happened.

With a waterfall of tears, Tyler slid down the crates until he found himself sitting on the floor.

"One stupid decision. That's all it took..." he mumbled to himself quietly. Fighting back the sadness and tears, Tyler took one last look at the pictures before shoving them back into his pocket. They wouldn't have wanted him to act like this. They wouldn't want him to be crying on this vessel.

Than again, they wouldn't want him carrying guns at seventeen and joining a mercenary organization either.

Slowly, the tears stopped and his face dried up. Opening the Omni-Tool, Tyler began searching on the Extranet. Of course, that meant staring at the search bar for a couple of minutes as he contemplated what to search up. Finally, remembering one of the songs from a CD he had, Tyler typed in "Another Way to Die-Disturbed".

Without even asking for him to select a place, the screen turned blank except for the circle and sideways triangle that meant 'Playing'. The music began to pour from some sort of speaker on the wrist device. The guitar strums and drum beats seemed to echo in the crowded cargo bay. After a couple seconds of a steady beat, the male voice of the singer became the forefront,

"_The indulgence of our lives_

_Has cast a shadow upon the world_

_Our devotion to our appetite_

_Has betrayed us all_

_An apocalyptic plight_

_More destruction will unfold_

_Mother Earth will show her darker side_

_And take her toll"_

The steady drum and guitar rhythm increased in volume and became much faster after a short pause in the beat. When the singer began to sing again, his own rhythm was much faster than before.

"_It's just another way to die_

_There can be no other reason why_

_You know, we should have seen it coming_

_Consequences, we cannot deny_

_Will be revealed in time_

_Glaciers melt as we pollute the sky_

_A sign of devastation coming_

_We don't need another way to die_

_Can we repent in time?"_

Tyler had closed his eyes and set his head against the crate as the song played on. He didn't know what it was but music, even violent sounding rock music like this, seemed to put him at ease and make him feel... safe.

That feeling of safety was shattered as a deep voice echoed across the bay, being loud enough for Tyler to hear over the music.

"Interesting music, human."

Tyler opened his eyes and looked at the door to see three Batarians standing in the doorway. Behind them, he could see some of the other crewmembers gathering to watch what was happening. The Batarians were wearing the standard trooper armor of the Blue Suns, minus the helmets of course. They wielded no weapons, as this was their ship.

Tyler could already tell what was going to happen. Letting the song play, Tyler slowly removed his pistol and set it on the pack before he stood and took a step forward.

"One of my favorites actually," Tyler replied with a smirk. He most likely wouldn't win, but he wouldn't go down without putting up a fight either. Already, Tyler felt the adrenaline entering his system. It felt glorious and as if he could take on the world, or worlds in this case.

The three Batarians began to walk towards the teen. The gathering crewmembers filed into the bay to get a better view. Soon, the four combatants found themselves surrounded by the eager spectators. Out of the corners of his eyes, Tyler could see bets being made and was unsurprised to see most of the money being put on the Batarians. Curiously, however, Tyler had spotted Madison in time to see her point at him when she was asked for her bet.

_She's going to lose some money._

Tyler was vaguely aware of the current song ending. A short silence fell upon the crowd before the speaker started again with a sped up rhythm of guitar and drums. The song began with an animal-like growl before going into the actual singing. Though it was more like yelling with a beat,

"_I am now, an instrument of violence_

_I am a vessel of invincibility_

_I cannot leave this undecided_

_Stepping down to battle another day"_

The first Batarian charged Tyler head-on. No technique, just a good-old fashioned bum rush. When he was within range, he launched a fist out that was meant for his opponent's face. Reacting quickly, Tyler stepped to the side, grabbed the extended wrist with his left hand, put his right hand on his back to guide him, and slammed him into the crate.

Already, the second Batarian was coming in for a strike of his own. Feigning right before throwing a left, the alien struck Tyler in the face. Stumbling back, the teen recovered in time to block a kick to his side with his forearm. His other hand whipping out like a Cobra, Tyler grabbed hold of the outstretched leg and twisted. The surprised Batarian found himself face-first on the floor. Lifting his right foot, Tyler was ready to stomp out the alien.

A kick to his gut changed that plan as he was sent backwards, closer to the ring of spectators. As Tyler regained his breath and the Batarians regrouped, the music continued to blare throughout the bay.

"_Come on bring it, don't sing it, better believe it_

_Broken down till your hope has died_

_Beat down till victory's mine_

_Stand up and show me some pride_

_And now are you ready?"_

Tyler couldn't help but notice some of the spectators smiling at that part of the song and that some were even bobbing their heads along with the music.

The first Batarian, surprise, surprise, was the first one to have another go at Tyler. This time, he tried to feign right but the teen saw it coming. Blocking the strike, he barely saw the fist of the second Batarian come from behind the first and strike the teen in the shoulder. An armored foot than came around the other side and slammed into the teen's side. Doubling over slightly, the first Batarian took the opening and sent an uppercut to the teen's chin. With it connecting, the teen found his feet leaving the ground before he ended up on his back with all of the air leaving his body and pain raging through his system. A chorus of "Ooooh"s rippled through the crowd.

As Tyler tried to lift himself into a sitting position, an armored boot came crashing down on his chest, pinning him to the deck. The three Batarians had gathered around him and were looking down at him wickedly.

"_As I look upon you_

_Through the Warrior's eyes now_

_I can see that fear_

_That will ensure my victory this time"_

Tyler grinned up at the three and began to laugh. He could taste the blood in his mouth but he didn't care. The laughter caught the Batarians off-guard. It sounded manic, as if he should belong in an insane asylum.

Quick as Cobras, his arms reached out and locked around the ankle of the Batarian keeping him down. With a sharp twist, and a loud crack, the Batarian fell to the ground screaming. As the Batarian fell, Tyler used his feet to sweep out the legs from under the two remaining aliens. Quickly getting upright, Tyler half-crawled, half-walked to the Batarian to his right and began to punch his face repeatedly until the Batarian entered unconsciousness.

A boot connected with Tyler's gut, returning him onto his back. He looked up at the last Batarian to see the boot coming down for his face. Rolling out of the way, Tyler jumped to his feet. Sidestepping a rage-supported punch, Tyler sent a knee to the Batarians gut since his guard was down. As the alien doubled over, Tyler put a hand on the back of the Batarian's head to guide it to the still-raised knee. The Batarian stumbled backwards a bit before Tyler swept his legs from under him. Falling to the floor, the Batarian barely saw the boot come down on his face.

With a 'smack' the boot connected. Tyler took a second to see that the chest was still rising and falling. Tapping the body with his foot, the teen was satisfied to see no response. He was out cold. Finally, Tyler turned to the last conscious Batarian from the group. This was their leader, the one that probably talked these other two into backing him up in the fight.

Slowly, Tyler began to make his way to the injured Batarian. He seemed to be cradling his leg,

_Probably broken. _Tyler thought with a bloody grin as the music continued to play.

"_I'm one with the Warrior inside_

_My dominance can't be denied_

_Your entire world will turn_

_into a battlefield tonight."_

Standing above the Batarian, but not close to him, Tyler couldn't help but smile. Blood ran from his mouth and other cuts on his body, especially his knuckles. He already began to feel sore where the hits had fallen on his body.

Kneeling down, Tyler stared at the alien's four eyes. The smile disappeared, being replaced by a look that reflected the seriousness of the situation.

"Having fun?" the teen asked wickedly. The Batarian just spat at Tyler, the spit mostly getting on the floor but some got on the teen's boots. Another manic smile mad it's way to his face as he stood up to his full height.

Without a comment or anything, the teen took a step closer, rose his boot, and brought it down on the alien's face. Like with the other one, there was a 'smack'. Checking to make sure he wasn't dead, which he wasn't, Tyler looked around at the spectators. He vaguely noticed that the song had changed again. He didn't listen to it though. The teen stood ready for the repercussions for knocking out three of their buddies. The mass of humans, turians, and batarians stood silent before an uproar of sound and activity occurred. Some cheered, some collected bets, and some just began to curse loudly at losing their bets.

A loud, pissed off, female voice brought everything to a screeching halt.

"Atten-shun!"

Everyone in the room obeyed the order, even Tyler found himself complying as his heels snapped together, his back straightened, and his hands found their places by his side. His eyes fixated themselves on a point straight ahead, which happened to be a Turian who was forced to stare back at him.

Slowly, the armored woman from before made her way to the center of the circle. The determination on her face dispersed as she took in the scene of three of her men knocked out on the ground. Her eyes finally settled on the bloodied and beaten teenager.

As fast as it left, however, the determination returned, with a pinch of fury. Tyler soon found himself staring into the face of a very pissed off Blue Sun commander after she had stomped her way to him. She paused as the music continued to play,

"Turn that music off. Now," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Tyler replied as he opened the Omni-Tool, as it had closed itself during the fight. Turning off the music, Tyler closed the Omni-Tool once more before snapping back to attention.

"Now than. Who the hell started this fight?" she asked, lacing her words with the fury of a thousand Varren.

"Those three, ma'am," Tyler responded, motioning to the closest unconscious Batarian. The teen kept his gaze straight ahead, trying not to break bearing to wipe off the blood that was slowly dripping from his chin.

The Blue Sun commander gazed around at the circle of spectators.

"Who wishes to support this man's claim?" she asked, loud enough for them all to hear. No one said anything at first. After about a minute, a voice that Tyler vaguely recognized rang out behind him.

"I do, ma'am

The commander nodded before asking,

"Anyone else?"

The Turian that had been across from the teen when they snapped to attention spoke up,

"I do, ma'am."

Soon, others began joining in their support of Tyler's claim. Even some of the ones who lost their bet began to voice their support of his claim. When it was all over, the commander looked back at Tyler.

_Is that approval I see on her face? _He thought to himself.

"Looks like your making friends kid. We've reached the 'Gateway into Omega', also known as the lane to dock. Get your shit and get ready to leave." she ordered of him, before continuing, "Madison will leave the vessel with her to guide you through this cesspool to our base on station," she explained.

In a very loud, commanding voice, she yelled out, "Dismissed!"

As one, the gathering of crewmembers filed out of the cargo bay. Some, who passed Tyler, gave him a pat on the shoulder while others collected their unconscious friends to take to the med-bay. When everyone had left, the commander gave him a pat on the shoulder and a smile as she left to leave as well.

Once he was truly alone, Tyler made his way to his pack and firearms. After holstering the pistol, the teen flung the pack onto his back with pain flaring up in his arms.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered to himself as he began to make his way to the bridge. It was time to get off this ship and begin his journey as an actual Blue Sun mercenary. However, judging by what happened here, it definitely won't be easy.

**A/N: Well. That was fun to write. Anyways, I don't got much to say but that I hope you enjoyed this installment and to ask you all to please leave a review. Reviews keep me going and let me know that people at least read my story.**

**I don't care if you point out all my faults in the story, reviews make me a happy person as it tells me my story actually gets read.**

**Next installment will come out some time soon, don't know when exactly.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Five**

**Hell...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Hell...**

Tyler stepped out of the docking tube and into a poorly lit, empty hallway. He didn't recognize the immediate area he was in.

_Different area than where Shepard lands than._

Tyler put a hand to his side and grimaced slightly as the area he got kicked began to flare up. He had declined any of their offers for Medi-Gel after he had learned that nothing was exactly broken.

"You okay?"

Tyler turned to the voice to see Madison stepping out from the tube, a look of concern on her face.

"I'm fine," Tyler replied, trying to make it sound like he was, even if he didn't look like he was. Blood still dripped from his chin every minute or so and his teeth was stained by his life essence. His knuckles were bruised and bloody while he could imagine bruises forming on his shoulder and torso. He probably looked like hell, a perfect cover for Omega.

"If you say so," Madison's voice was disbelieving but she seemed to simply accept it with a shake of her head. Passing Tyler, she motioned for him to follow her as she began to make her way down the hall. Tyler shrugged to himself before following her through the maze of hate, death, and filth that was Omega. The duo passed by all walks of life, and all species. Vorcha sneered at them, Batarians glared, Volus glanced, Turians nodded, Humans ignored them, Asari passed them, Salarian rushed along, and Elcor made the ground shake.

However, that was just an oversimplified version of the trip. Really, the two were stepping over passed out creatures or the corpses from some mishap. The duo gave wide berths to groups around burning barrels and readied themselves for a fight near any Vorcha.

The somewhat peaceful walk had to come to a screeching halt though.

A Human male approached Madison and got a little too close for her comfort.

"Hey baby, why don't you and I have a little fun?" he asked, slurring some of his words and wobbling greatly. Tyler was found himself looking down his pistol's sights, having them lined up perfectly on the man's head, tracking it as he wobbled.

"Back off the woman. Now," Tyler ordered in as authoritative a tone as he could. The drunk man turned and looked at Tyler as if just noticing, despite Tyler being just two steps behind Madison the entire time. With a great deal of effort on his part, the drunk wobbled over to the teen, leaned his forehead against the barrel of the pistol, and rose his hand with his index finger extended.

"Now, mister, you need to go fu-"

The man was cut off as a bullet entered the man's head from point blank range before soaring out the back in a red mist. Blood spattered across Tyler's face, body, and gun, but he stood unphased as the man fell sideways to the ground.

A 'slink' of metal-on-metal caused Tyler to shift his aim to his immediate right, holding the pistol in one hand, to a Batarian hobo with a knife. Tyler could tell he was a hobo by the tattered clothing he wore and by the rusty, danged up knife in his hands. The Batarian stopped moving towards the blood-spattered teen. After a short stare-down, the Batarian backed off to rejoin his homeless friends around the barrel.

Tyler felt a smaller, smooth hand grab onto his left arm and yank him forward gently,

"Let's go," Madison whispered harshly. Tyler slowly lowered the pistol as he followed the woman out of that corridor and into another. After entering this new corridor, he holstered his pistol. A look of surprise flashed across his features as Madison reeled around with fire in her eyes, "What the hell was that?"

"A drunk coming onto you before being stupid and losing his mind," Tyler replied with a small smirk. That just seemed to fuel her rage even more,

"I could have taken care of myself! All you did was kill someone who probably already in despair."

"Can we continue?" the teen asked calmly as he waved down the corridor behind Madison. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did, and had a fist firmly planted on her waist. Exasperated, she just threw her arms into the air before turning around and continuing down the hallway.

After a couple more minutes of walking, they finally came upon a door with the infamous Blue Suns emblem emblazoned visibly on the door itself. With a wave of Madison's hand, the door slid open.

"Open sesame," Tyler muttered under his breath with a smile.

"What was that?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing."

Madison just gave him a weird look before dragging him into the room. The door slid shut behind the two, but that isn't what grabbed Tyler's attention.

The room looked like one of Hollywood's portrayals of an Army Command Post, only now it was with future tech. Computers lined the walls while a holographic map dominated the center of the room. Most of the computers were manned while there were also some beings just moving from computer to map and back to the computers with a sharp sense of purpose.

A Turian in Blue Suns armor looked up from where he was leaning against the holographic map, studying it. Displayed by the map than was a schematic of the Omega station.

_Where's the Batarian from ME2?_

"Who is he?" the Turian demanded, staring right at Madison. The woman shifted slightly before answering,

"He's a new recruit sir. We found him on the Citadel after he had just dealt with three Eclipse soldiers, two regulars and an Engineer."

The Turian didn't seem all that convinced by that, "By himself?" Without waiting for an answer though, he added, "Looks like he got hit pretty good."

"Except for the dents on the vest," Madison began, pausing for what Tyler assumed to be a dramatic effect, "the wounds are a result of being challenged to a fight by three Batarian crewmembers aboard my assigned vessel. May I add that he won, sir." she explained before tilting her head a slight angle and shrugging, "Barely."

Tyler chuckled as it was true that he barely won, most of it being due to luck.

_Guess that's what happens when you're of Irish descent, _he thought to himself with a smile.

The Turian looked the teen over, his eyes taking their time to examine some of the more bloodied areas. Finally, he gave what passed as a smile for Turians before responding,

'Welcome to the Blue Suns than kid. Of course, first you'll have to go through training. I don't care if you were a damned Alliance Marine, you will go through training. Understood?" he asked, leaving no room for argument. Not that Tyler would anyways. The teen snapped to attention as he replied,

"Sir, yes sir."

The Turian smiled again and shook hi head in what Tyler could only guess as amusement.

"I like you already," he complimented before turning his eyes back to Madison, "You're dismissed. Return to your vessel and await further orders."

Madison came to attention, saluted, and than left through the same sliding door as they had entered through.

This left Tyler alone in front of the scrutiny of this Turian. With a sigh, the Turian pushed himself off of the map to stand up straight, reaching his full height of seven feet.

_Shit_

"Guess I'll show you to the Training Grounds," the Turian thought aloud as he motioned for Tyler to follow him before towards one of the back doors.

"Welcome to hell kid," the Turian commented over his should before they entered the new corridor. As Tyler passed the busy bee workers of what he could guess was a sort of CIC, he couldn't help but think about what the Turian had said.

_Hell..._

_Huh, I though I was there as soon as I had stepped onto the station._

**A/N: Right, short chapter I know. I had to do a transition to get him to where he's actually going into the Blue Suns. There will be a time skip as writing up all the training scenes will be boring as HELL!**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this installment. Just a little future-seeing for y'all, I will be inserting an easter egg somewhere in one of the chapters ahead. Have fun wondering what it is and spotting it when it comes up.**

**As always, next installment will be coming out soon, just don't ask for an exact date.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Six**

**...Is Boring**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

…**Is Accommodating**

Six months had passed. Six grisly, character-breaking, soul-searching, months. The actual training had taken four of those months. Each day, Tyler was yelled at, insulted, worked, and sometimes beaten by his Training Instructor who just happened to be a very racist Batarian. That first night of boot, when Tyler had laid down on his cot and stared at the ceiling of the station while those around him slept, it had finally, fully clicked in the teen's head. He had killed without feeling, he had willingly joined one of the most evil mercenary groups in the galaxy, and that he was never returning home. Within that night, he had rationalized why he had killed those four beings. The first two were victims of the teen's pent up rage against those who used to tease him when he was littler and when he was in High School. The Salarian was a case of 'He would have shot me if I had let him' and the drunk had been blatantly threatening a woman.

As the training went on, Tyler found himself thinking of abandoning this stupid idea and just going about life as a normal 'citizen' of Omega. Those thoughts were quelled by a different one,

_In your own time, you were going to join the military anyways. Disregarding the Batarian TI, and other alien species, this is what you would have been facing sooner or later._

So, the teen solidified his will and endured the rest of the training. When it was over, Tyler was given one week leave and a starting payment of 2,000 credits to his chit. With his leave, Tyler had bought himself a small, furnished, apartment near the edge of the district, so that he could have a view of space. After mentally accepting what he was and physically recovering from the training, his leave was gone. Being shoved into his issued Blue Suns armor and tossed aboard a random frigate, the vessel sped across the Terminus Systems as if it's ass was alight.

Mission after mission, battle after battle, Tyler continued to endure. The biggest blow came from losing a member of his squad during what was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab. After those two months of seeing hellhole after hellhole and death after death, Tyler found his squad being tossed back onto Omega for 'police' duties.

"Damn Tyler, how many times have you boys been on board to 'examine' my vessel?" asked a Turian captain incredulously as he crossed his arms and shook his naturally armored head. The Turian, Brutus, had been searched at least once every time he had docked within this district of Omega.

"You know how it is, Brutus," Tyler began with a chuckle, his voice being synthesized by the 'fish-eye- helmet that Terminus mercenary groups seemed to adore, "all cargo entering or exiting this district must be checked for hazardous materials that can harm the citizens of the district."

"Bullshit Tyler and you know it," Brutus retorted with a barely disguised edge to his voice. Tyler had somehow become the default man that the squad leader turned to, to guard the bridge and, in some cases, CIC while the rest of them went on their little scavenger hunt. In all honesty, the teen enjoyed his posting as it involved doing nothing but chatting up a storm with the Captains. The best thing was that he got paid to do so. Of course, some of the Captains weren't exactly 'chatty'.

"I know Brutus, I know," Tyler whispered to the Turian beside him. The six-foot-five Turian stood over Tyler by just four inches, have maxed out at six feet over the past six months. The tan carapaced Turian sported white tattoos on his face that reminded the teen of Executor Palin from the Presidium. The gray clothes he wore made the teen think of the Rodam salesman.

"You can't go around shouting it down the corridors though," Tyler began, glancing at the Turian briefly before going back to 'guarding' the bridge personnel, "my bosses will take action, no matter if I try to persuade them against it."

A sigh emanated from the walking raptor next to the teen before muttering in a defeated tone, "I know."

An awkward silence developed between the two. Tyler began drumming his left-hand fingers against the casing of the Mattock held at his waist. That was one good thing of the Blue Suns, they let him keep his weapons. They even let him keep his armor, though that was stored in his apartment.

After another minute had passed, the rest of the squad re-entered the bridge from the bowels of the ship.

"Find anything?" Tyler inquired, as he found himself doing when the squad returned form these searches. The squad leader, a Turian named Garin, shook his helmeted head.

"Nothing," turning to Brutus he said, "Your good to go."

Brutus gave a short bow, "Thank you. Now, I must be off. Got deliveries to make and people to see."

The squad of two Turians, a Batarian, and two Humans filed off of the vessel through the airlock and stood in the corridor watching as it unlatched from the Station and flew away.

"Why the fuck are we doing this?" the other human, Harold, asked, ruining the collective silence. Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler saw Garin run a talon down the face of his helmet. The Revenant held easily with just his right hand.

"Because we were ordered to. How much more do you need than that?" replied the second Turian, Balvius.

"Um... how about the fact that we had been zipping across the Terminus systems, getting our asses shot at, completing mission after mission with a 98% success rate." Harold took a quick pause as a look of both regret and sadness washed across his face. The 2% in that number had been from the mission where they had lost their teammate and ended up failing the mission due to crappy recon. After a couple seconds of silence, Harold continued, "Than, out of the blue, command draws us back to this floating shithole to be fucking customs agents with high-powered rifles."

After the rant, another couple seconds of silence existed before the Batarian, Talik, spoke.

"He does have a point."

"Has everyone become insane and didn't inform me?" Garin began, stepping towards the window and turning to face the squad. "Why don't we just blow our brains out and save command the fucking time? We do what we're told, as we're told, because we joined this outfit. None of us were forced to join, we joined on our own will. So, next time you want to question what command does, you think of that. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir," the squad replied in unison. Garin nodded in satisfaction as he gripped the Revenant in both hands again.

"Good. Now than, that was the last ship of our shift. All of you are free to do whatever until tomorrow," he informed us before turning and beginning on his way to command to turn in his reports of the searches. Garin was a good man, but he made sure to slap us around when we were getting to antsy about command's orders.

"So," Tyler began, catching everyone's attention, "guess we're going to that club, right? Get a drink, Harold can be rejected by a dancer... again, Talik can mock him, and Balvius can just sit with a stick up his ass."

At first, Talik and Balvius were chuckling at Harold's expense but, in the end, Talik was laughing boisterously while Balvius and Harold moved towards Tyler like two sharks after a minnow. With a whispered curse, Tyler barely had enough time to get his rifle attached to the magnetic clips on his back before he had to run. Tearing down the corridors, Balvius and Harold hot on his heels, Tyler had to mutter apology after apology as he ran into more than a few of the district's citizens.

_Almost there, _he thought to himself. He was almost to the club that entertained everyone in the district. It was a bit smaller than Afterlife but had about the same feel to it. Once he got there, Balvius and Harold should calm down and enjoy a drink. Tyler glanced behind him to see where they were, the HUD in his helmet tracking their IFF trackers. As his head was turn, he ran head-on into someone, causing them to be knocked down and for Tyler to trip. The teen barely saw the person hit the ground as Tyler managed to roll over them and come to a rest on his stomach.

Ripping off his helmet, Tyler jumped to his feet to confront the person he had run into. On Omega, simple things like this usually ended up in a fistfight. Being a Blue Sun, however, made some people just turn and walk away from him, mumbling under their breath. Having turned fully around now, Tyler saw Balvius and Harold slowly coming to a halt as the rest of the people around him continued to walk past. They wanted nothing to do with the Blue Suns, that much was evident.

Looking down, Tyler spotted the person he had run into. A human woman was beginning to get to her hands and knees as she took deep breaths. Her clothes seemed to like that of the Alliance uniforms but was a maroon color instead of the blue. Her dirty blonde hair looked like it could reach her upper back. Tyler also spotted a pistol holstered on her belt which, luckily, she wasn't going for.

"Who the fuck do you think you ar-" she cut herself off as she looked up at Tyler's chestplate. "Oh, Blue Suns, of course."

"Sorry ma'am. Me and my friends were in a hurry," Tyler explained, feeling sorry that he not only bumped into her but also completely ran her over. When she looked up at him, Tyler could swear that she was barely any older than himself.

Slowly, she worked herself to her feet, standing up straight in front of Tyler. She seemed to be at least a head shorter than he was but it was those blue eyes that caught his attention. They seemed to be as blue as the 'eyes' on his helmet were. She looked at him incredulously before shaking her head and walking past him, using her finger to wipe drool off his lower lip that he knew wasn't there.

"See ya mercenary," she said as she walked off. Tyler turned to watch her go, vaguely aware of Harold and Balvius stepping up to flank him, until she turned a corner and disappeared from sight. It was than that a pair of talons materialized in front of him, snapping at him.

"Hey, pick up your jaw," Balvius said with a hint of amusement in his voice. Tyler just shook his head and gave the Turian a quick glare before crouching down to pick up his helmet off the ground. Lifting it over his head and sliding it down until it hissed and sealed, Tyler simply stated,

"No idea what you were talking about."

"Dude, it was like you were hypnotized. I admit she was fine, but as soon as she looked at you, you went to another galaxy," Harold exclaimed with a laugh.

"Whatever, let's just... get to the club," Tyler said impatiently as he continued towards the club.

"Sure, mercenary," Harold said, making his voice more feminine when he said 'mercenary'. Both he and Balvius started to crack up, Balvius briefly using Harold for support. Tyler just continued walking as they laughed behind him. After a couple seconds, Tyler heard them quiet down and catch up to him.

After another minute of walking in relative silence, with Balvius and Harold still snickering, the three made it to the club. Reaching their table, that they had claimed when they first arrived, in the corner of the room, the three sat down. After they removed their helmets, setting them on the table, an Asari waitress showed up at the table.

"Hey guys, you want the usual?" she asked. She had been serving them ever since the squad showed up and claimed the table. Balvius and Harold both nodded their heads in affirmation.

"Just a water Nillia, thank you," Tyler stated. He wasn't in the mood for his usual, which contained some alcohol in it. Nillia was a bit surprise but nodded her head,

"Okay. Where's Talik?" she asked politely.

"He's on his way. We kinda had a race," Harold replied with a smirk.

"I'll bring his out too than," Nillia informed them with a smile before walking off to fill the orders. Harold, for once, didn't have his eyes glued on the stage located in the back of the room, but instead, he and Balvius were looking directly at Tyler.'

"What?" Tyler asked loudly after about a minute of them staring at him.

"Who's got the stick up their ass now?" Balvius asked calmly. It only took a few seconds for them to bust out into uncontrollable laughter though. Tyler just sat back with his arms folded. He found himself staring at the tabletop. Something was eerily familiar about that girl, but he couldn't place his finger on it and it was starting to piss him off.

_Might as well add this mystery to my fucking list of things to do in the future._

**A/N: Alright guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Oh and that girl wasn't the Easter Egg I mentioned before.**

**Concerning the Easter Egg, however, I've been having doubts as to whether to toss it into the story or not so I've decided that I'm going to put a poll up on my profile page telling what it is (ruining the surprise) and asking y'all what you think of the idea. Your votes (and input by way of PMs) will be appreciated.**

**As always, the Next Installment will be out as soon as I can get it written and uploaded.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Seven**

**Muck-Covered Fan**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Muck-Covered Fan**

Tyler sat at the desk in his apartment. Only things resting atop it was a portable terminal that he had purchased and his Blue Suns helmet. It had been three weeks since bumping into that oddly familiar girl and, as he sat with his forehead on the cool surface of the desk, he realized how far he was from discovering who she was. In the immediate days following the sighting of her, Tyler had called in a favor from some Intel guys he had helped out. Asking them to keep an eye out for her, giving them a description, they agreed to try to find her. After three weeks, however, they still had nothing to report for the search.

He would have dismissed it as a figment of his imagination but found that he couldn't since both Harold and Balvius had seen her as well. Which meant that unless they were having the same hallucinations, which was highly unlikely, Tyler had in-fact run into her. The teen sighed impatiently as he remained in the uncomfortable position. Finally, the interior of his helmet beeped, informing him of someone trying to reach him via comm. Slipping on the helmet, he opened the comm channel but before he could speak, the other person beat him to it.

"Tyler, this is Garin, get down to Dock Seven ASAP. An unexpected cargo vessel just finished docking and command wants our squad to investigate."

"Isn't our shift over? What happened to the other team?" Tyler asked. Nevertheless, the young human stood and collected his weapons from the small table near the kitchen appliances. With his weapons holstered, he exited his apartment, locked it, and began on his way to Dock Seven.

"They're scanning another ship already, too busy. I'm guessing your already on your way?" he asked knowingly. Tyler smirked,

_You know me well Garin._

"Yeah, I'll be there momentarily. Out."

With the conversation over, Tyler begun to jog through the corridors. He passed many of the different beings that lived within the district. Some gave Tyler a curt nod or a short wave as he passed while most of them ignored him, doing just enough to stay out of his way. Still a few gave him hate-filled glares.

Rounding another corner, Tyler spotted Balvius stepping out of his own apartment. The Turian's apartment was about the same size as Tyler's but it lacked a view of space, something that Tyler enjoyed having as he would simply stare out into space before jotting down his experiences in the mercenary group since joining onto his terminal.

"Hey Balvius," Tyler began, coming to a stop next to the Turian, "you ready?"

Balvius nodded his head, "Ready."

Tyler begun to jog once more, Balvius taking up the spot beside him. They made their way through the corridors easily. Some of the citizens had to be... prompted into getting out of their way but they were still making good time. The duo had to pass through a market, causing them to slow to a fast paced walk due to the cluster of people in the area.

After getting through the mass of people and exiting the market, the duo continued their jogging. Passing an intersection of corridors, Tyler spotted Harold coming around the turn, joining their small formation as they jogged through the corridors.

"Ready Harold?" Balvius questioned, beating Tyler to the punch. The other human answered with a loud yawn,

"Wish I was still sleeping but yeah, I'm ready," Harold replied as he shook his head gently. Tyler smirked, Harold was always sleeping, drinking, or trying to pick up some woman or another on his time off.

One mercenary jogging through the corridors was considered normal on Omega, considering who ran the districts. Two mercenaries jogging was relatively normal as well, though it still earned a few worried glances from tourists. Three fully armed and armored mercenaries, however... that was a different story. The citizens of the district hugged the walls of the corridors as the three jogged past and Tyler could hear the whispering amongst them and the worried looks. Three or more mercenaries in a hurry meant that there was likely trouble afoot.

Finally reaching the Dock Seven entrance, the three slowed to a walk before entering. Upon entering, they saw Talik and Garin standing next to a crate, discussing the vessel hanging from the airlock umbilical outside the windows. The vessel was blocky in shape, much like that of a freighter, but had a few non-standard weapons mounted along it's hull.

"Alright squad, listen up," Began Garin as the four squad members made a semi-circle in front of him, "We're mixing up the detail. As this is an unknown vessel, Balvius and I will take bridge duty while Talik will take Harold and Tyler into the Cargo Hold the cargo. From there we will run a scan of the rest of the ship. Questions?"

"Any idea on who's inside?" Tyler asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Garin shook his head while looking at the ground, "None. For all we know, Alliance Marines could be aboard, ready to take us out. That's why we're going in guns out and ready. Do not fire unless fired upon or if I order you to do so. Any other questions?"

None came,

"Let's move than," Garin ordered as he began to approach the umbilical. Tyler drew out his Mattock, letting it expand in his hands, as the rest of the squad pulled out their own weapon. Garin hefted his Revenant LMG, Balvius expertly handled a Firestorm IV shotgun, Harold examined his Lancer III Assault Rifle, and, lastly, Talik affectionately patted his M-451 Firestorm flamethrower. The team was ready for anything.

When they stepped through the airlock, however, what they saw confused them them. All of the lights in the vessel were turned off but the terminals were still on, lighting the room in an eerie orange glow. The team activated the flashlights on their guns and let them dance around the room. Harold's stopped abruptly as it illuminated three human corpses laying in the middle of the bridge, bullet holes visible on either sides of their heads and a single pistol laying on the deck in the pool of blood.

"What the fuck?" Harold asked as he walked up to the three corpses as the rest of the squad slowly examined the bridge. Once it was deemed clear, they joined Harold by the corpses.

"Looks like suicide," Balvius theorized.

"But why?" Talik countered, glancing at the Turian before looking back at the bodies. They looked as if they were standing in a small triangle as they did this, one after the other.

"Alright," Garin began, snapping the team out of their individual thoughts, "there's obviously nothing here. We'll all move to the cargo hold and search the vessel before clean-up can come aboard. Let's move."

The team turned away from the grim sight of the corpses and moved to the only other door in the room besides the airlock. Stacking up on either side of the door, the team readied themselves to breach. Nodding his head, Garin opened the door and stepped inside, sticking to the left of the hallway while Talik came in from the right and stuck to the right side of the hallway. Balvius and Tyler followed them while Harold brought up the rear, walking backwards to cover their six. The white beams of their flashlights danced along the metal walls and floor of the darkened freighter as they moved down.

Encountering a set of doors, the team stepped when they reached them with Garin and Talik a step past the doors. Balvius and Tyler opened their respective doors and entered, rifles first. When Tyler entered his room, he immediately recognized it as the crew's quarters. Tyler moved through the room like a fish through water, his flashlight examining every nook and crevice along the way. Reaching the back of the room, Tyler let his flashlight dance along the back wall but froze at what he saw. In the back of the room sat a round table with four chairs around it. Sitting in one of the chairs was another human, his head resting on the table as if he was sleeping. Blood had pooled around his head, however, from a glistening hole where his temple was supposed to be. The steady dripping sound of the blood falling to the floor reached Tyler's ears.

"Found another crewmember," Tyler stated, in a hushed tone, into the comm as he lowered his weapon, "dead. Suicide."

There was a brief silence before Balvius came over the comm in the same hushed tone as Tyler, "Nothing here."

"Alright, regroup."

The two made their way out of their respective rooms and back into the formation. Again, they began to move down the corridor. Except for the sound of their boots hitting the deck and of the ship's Life Support, it was quieter than a graveyard. Tyler found the darkness and lack of life unsettling to say the least. Something was definitely going on. Four crewmembers don't just sporadically commit suicide, especially when they had just docked with a station.

After checking a few more rooms along the way, and finding nothing, the team made it to a door at the end of the hallway with radiant white letters that informed the team that it indeed led to the Cargo Bay. Stacking up on the door, Garin held up the three talons on his free hand and counted down. When he hit one, he opened the door. Talik was the first in, followed by Garin, Balvius, Tyler, and finally Harold. The five quickly scanned the area they entered into. Unlike the rest of the ship, the Cargo Bay had at least _some _lighting that helped the squad see. The bay had a good amount of crates stacked in it in an orderly fashion where it created 'aisles' between the crate stacks.

As the other four went off to begin examining the crates, Tyler hung back as their were only four rows of stacks to be scanned and he decided to just examine the room a bit more. It wasn't all that big, being about half the size of the SR1 Bay. What drew his attention more was a golden gleam that reflected light from it's point on the wall. Moving over to it, Tyler looked real closely to see what looked a vertically elongated hexagon with a 'barrier' on either side of it. At first, Tyler couldn't think of who it was but it than hit him like a brick wall.

_Cerberus_

"Hey guys, I got something. Something extremely volatile," Harold reported from his row. Tyler turned to see him standing next to a lone crate with none other stacked upon it. As the other three moved towards him, Tyler hung back. He didn't like this, not one bit.

When the other three reached Harold, Tyler saw Harold holster his rifle before reaching out and grasping the crate's lid. Lifting it up, he muttered, "Oh shit."

Time seemed to slow as a 'click' echoed through the room. With a flash of angelic light, the crate exploded, sending shrapnel shooting out in every direction. The four mercenaries' barriers held for but a second before as the hyper-velocity shrapnel ripped apart their armor, reaching the flesh underneath. The shockwave from whatever explosive device in the container than picked up the four mercenaries, who were far past dead as chunks of armor and flesh were missing, and tossed them across the bay. When the shockwave reached Tyler, it picked him up and tossed him backwards. With his back hitting the wall, Tyler's vision exploded into stars as his armored head whacked into the metal. He was barely able to comprehend that if it hadn't been for the helmet, he would have been a dead man.

"Cargo door opening," the ship's VI reported calmly.

_Wait, what?_

The large ramp in the back of the room slowly began to lower. With what sounded like a hurricane, the air began to vent into space, taking with it every object in the room. First were the corpses, as they traveled at faster velocities and could fit easier in the smaller gaps. As the first handful of crates began to get ejected, Tyler felt himself being dragged to the door and the empty void beyond.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Tyler cursed repeatedly, his voice getting louder and louder with each curse as he found himself flipped onto his stomach, still being dragged to the door by the rushing air. Scrambling, the young mercenary fought for a handhold but, as with all ships in this universe, the floor was too smooth and provided no leverage. Finally, he felt himself being picked up from the ground as he was finally tossed out of the cargo bay and into the emptiness of space.

He had an oxygen reserve in his helmet, but he had never exactly been trained for Zero-G operations. Tyler faintly noticed that he had beat some of the crates in leaving the ship. Slowly looking around, he noticed that he was within an asteroid field of crates. Tyler would have just drifted lazily until he got picked up but the shit-covered fan of this inspection became more covered.

Without any warning, the ship's core exploded in a brilliant, blue flash. The ship sized shrapnel and shockwave flew out in all directions, tearing apart anything in it's path. The most instant destruction was of the dock where it was berthed, ripping it apart piece by piece as if it was the construction sequence in reverse. Pieces of the ship flew off a ways before slamming into other docks of the same district. Luckily, the other team's vessel had been parked on the other side of the district or else there may have been _two _exploding vessels which would have obliterated the district.

It was just than that Tyler noticed what was going to happen as he saw the spherical curtain of debris reaching out across space. It was going to pass by him, and carrying the debris was a massive shockwave.

As the shockwave reached the crates that were behind Tyler, it began to carry them at the same speed as the shrapnel.

_Well, fuck. _Tyler thought to himself as he helplessly watched the sphere of destruction reaching out to grab hold of him. He didn't have to wait long as a small crate was flung ahead of the shockwave and struck Tyler with the force of a charging Krogan. As coinciding with Newton's Laws, the momentum from the crate was transferred to Tyler's lazily drifting form and vice verse. So, as the crate drifted lazily to be picked up by the shockwave once more, Tyler was sent soaring through the empty vastness of space. The black blanket of unconsciousness began to creep it's way onto the mercenary's drifting form.

With a ringing in his ears from the smack of the crate, Tyler barely heard the crashing of a window, or the pain associated with being propelled through one. As the emergency shutter sealed the corridor from venting, the station's artificial gravity stomped the mercenary to deck. Tyler continued to slide across the floor before friction began to slow him. When he was slowed enough, his barely conscious form not truly hearing the screaming or gasps of people around him, his armor caught on a small crack, causing him to roll a few time before coming to a rest on his back.

As the darkness threatened to overcome him, Tyler rolled his head to the side to see a group of people rushing towards him. Some looked angry while others just looked concerned. Each time he blinked, the darkness continued to cover his vision until, finally, he closed his eyes and let himself fall into the eternal bliss of unconsciousness.

**A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter as much as the others. As for the title, I didn't think it would be right to put profanity in a Chapter Title.**

**Expect updates to be a bit slower as I'm expecting MW3 to arrive any the mail sometime soon and will be glued to that until I beat it at least once... maybe twice.**

**Still, it won't be as long a break as the one I'm gonna take when ME3 comes out. XD**

**Anyways, (even through the gap) I hope you all stay tuned for the next update and please leave a review. Reviews make me happy.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Eight**

**To Be Determined**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**To Be Determined**

Nerves screamed in pain as another fist connected with Tyler's face.

"What are the Blue Suns planning?" questioned the very irritated interrogator.

"Fuck...you," replied the young mercenary with a smirk as blood flowed from his mouth.

He had been awoken tied to a chair with a very pissed off duo consisting of an Asari and a Salarian wearing matching yellow and black armor. The single light in the small room was, surprisingly, hanging by a cord and swinging lazily in such a way that Tyler would only be able to see the shadowy outlines of his interrogators. At least, until a fist pierced the perimeter of the lighting and struck Tyler on some part of his body.

A blue fist to his gut and all of the air in his lungs left him by way of a pained exhale. The Salarian's hand wrapped itself around Tyler's neck and, before the teen knew it, two lizard eyes were trying to penetrate his soul.

"I don't believe you human." the Salarian replied before glancing back at his partner, "Melding would be much more efficient."

"It would but this fuck doesn't deserve the privilege. So, we're gonna go... what do human say, old-time on his ass."

When the Salarian turned back to face their prisoner, the teen spit in the alien's face. A spray of blood hitting the interrogator's face seemed to piss him off more as a vicious backhand connected with Tyler's cheek.

"You are a filth on the galaxy," the alien commented, trying to be insulting.

"And your a fucking coward-" Tyler had more to say but a punch square to the face stopped him mid-sentence. Pain exploded throughout his nervous system as stars briefly filled his vision. The teen saw the Salarian raise his hand for another strike but he was promptly tossed into a corner of the darkened room with the blue flurry of biotics.

"Enough," ordered the Asari, "he will tell us in due time but only if we leave him alive."

The Asari sent a brief glare in the Blue Sun mercenary's direction before grabbing her partner and dragging him out of the room, leaving Tyler alone with the swinging light.

They had taken everything from him. His armor, his weapons, his Omni-Tool, everything. So, as he sat there in nothing but a pair of boxers with blood pouring from his mouth and nose and bruises forming everywhere else, Tyler began to realize how fucked he was. He knew that help wouldn't be coming as he was just a simple peon on the chessboard of life.

Even if he could find a way to free himself from the chair, he was going up against a mercenary corporation who had a hard-on for mechs and Asari biotics. While the Asari might be nice eye-candy while his insides are ripped out of his body and than re-inserted with the precision of an eighteen-ton dump truck dropping a marble on a dime, he'd still end up the same. Dead.

Looking up at the ceiling above him, and the light hanging from it, Tyler closed his eyes and allowed himself to think back to the life he had in the 21st century. He wasn't exactly popular at the High School but he wasn't exactly a loner either. Proudly having more female friends than male ones, Tyler spent most of his time listening to gossip and learning "How to Properly **Not **Pay Attention 101" first-hand. When he was hanging around his male friends, the conversation was either about certain female, physical attributes or about the newest video game that just came out, or is about to come out.

Not having much of a dating life freed up lots of time for him to run around in circles in Fallout: New Vegas trying to avoid being overran by skirt-wearing Caesar's Legion assholes while wearing not much more than what he was now and wielding nothing more than a Pool stick. Why? Just cause he fucking could.

Follow that with writing fan fiction and a job and you get a teen who spends most of his day locked up in his room with the lights off, cussing out the Xbox because it froze for the fiftieth time at the same spot in the damn game.

Now, as Tyler sat in the single-light room, bloodied and beaten, he couldn't help but wish it back.

_No. Don't think like that. Think of the moment. Of the now! Think goddamn it, think!_

Tyler opened his eyes and looked about the room once more. Only door that he had seen was the one in which the two interrogators had left from. The light didn't illuminate the corners of the room so, for all he knew, there could be an Eclipse soldier standing in one, or all, of the corners with a rifle pointed at his tied up body. The chair was made of metal but the item in which his hands were tied by was actual rope.

Tyler remembered reading some Self-Insert where the main characters, after killing three Assassin fucks with such an ability that Shepard would comment them and whisk them away on the adventure of a lifetime, were contacted by some Prothean ghost-thing who bestowed upon them biotic powers, that would put an Asari Matriarch to shame, at the exact point that they needed them.

As conveniently amazing as that would be, Tyler knew that there was a infinitesimally slim to none chance of that happening. He'd probably have a higher chance of that psychotic little girl from F.E.A.R, or Task Force 141 from Modern Warfare, coming along and saving his ass.

His musings were interrupted when the door slid open with a _whoosh _and his two interrogators entered the room to resume standing over him like gods over their creation. Right, probably not the right analogy.

"What do you know about the Blue Suns operations on Omega?" the Asari asked patiently.

"Fuck all," Tyler responded with a chuckle. A tilt of their heads signaled their confusion. "Means I don't know shit," Tyler explained slowly, as if talking to a three year child. Tyler saw the Salarian move for another punch but a raised hand and shake of the head from the Asari made him stand down.

"What was you job in the Blue Suns while on Omega?"

"To inspect the vessels entering and leaving our docks for some shit or another. My squad commander would know more but he got blown to bits and than spaced by a bomb hidden in the bay of some fuck's ship so good luck questioning him."

Tyler decided to leave out his mention of Cerberus as it may drive the two to push harder for information.

"Did you do anything off of Omega?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Go where they told me, shoot what they told me, capture who they told me, blow up what they told me, get picked up when they said, and go to the next place they would tell me to go."

The Asari sighed impatiently, "Any names, dates, or places you'd like to share?"

"Nope." Tyler replied with a smirk as he imagined himself flipping them off. This time, the Salarian moved too fast for his Asari puppet-master to stop him. His fist connect squarely with Tyler's face and the popping of cartilage echoed in the room as pain unlike any other flooded Tyler's body. Only the effort of strong will-power kept him from screaming to the heavens as his nose was bent out of shape by the temperamental lizard.

As the young mercenary's vision swirled, a thud echoed off the door.

"What?" demanded the Asari without looking away from the prisoner. A couple seconds ticked by with no response. Before she could ask again, however, the door exploded inwards with a thunderous _boom_. Before the Asari or Salarian could fully turn around, they both sported two holes in each of their heads, crumpling to the floor with simultaneous thuds.

Three humanoid figures entered the room, clearing it quickly and proficiently. When they all deemed it clear, one of the figures walked up to the still tied up Tyler. When he reached the teen, a hand brushed against his bare, right shoulder where the Blue Suns emblem was prominently tattooed.

"We got Blue Suns here," the man proclaimed. As he moved his face in front of the teen's blurry vision, Tyler could barely make out the blue and white on the helmet that was symbolized by the Blue Suns. The squeezing of the bonds was relieved and, as one of the mercenaries picked Tyler up and began to head for the door, the darkness of unconsciousness began to creep up on the teen with ferocious vengeance.

After fighting it for a couple seconds, it finally overtook him, sending him into ignorant bliss.

**A/N: Short but I didn't know what to do exactly with him being tossed into a random district by an exploding vessel.**

**This was completed after I had changed into a fresh pair of underwear after I had finished the orgasmic ending of Modern Warfare 3.**

**Sorry if this chapter seems a bit... off but I had just watched like five episodes of Zero Punctuation before writing this.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you stay tuned for the next installment.**

_**Next Installment:**_

**Chapter Nine**

**Reborn**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**Reborn**

The ship slowly drifted towards the large, pronged station. Standing stoically, Tyler looked out the window at the station with a feeling of awe. It took some hard thinking to remember that something so majestic was also so deadly. The pronged station that was the Citadel was also a Mass Relay that would allow the Reapers to enter this galaxy and destroy all organic life. Of course, no one else knew that and thus, he had to be careful about who he told.

Looking down at his hands, Tyler rotated the helmet that he held. It was an exact copy of an ODST helmet from the Halo series back in his time. With it's matte-black finish and tint, it looked straight out of the game. However, on the visor was a decal of a white, human skull. The skull was missing it's lower jaw and it was made out a semi-see through material to where Tyler could see out but no one can see in. So, even if his helmet was depolarized, the skull would still be visible.

The squared shoulder pads gave him comfort, as did the gauntlets, torso plates, and other pieces of armor. An added component was the ability to holster his weapons on the armor, as well as attach the large pack that was currently on leaning against the window. It was the equivalent of a duffel and held some civvie clothes, ammo, his portable terminal, gun supplies, and his vest from what he liked to refer to as 'the Beginning'.

After the death of his team in the Blue Suns, Tyler had gone on to become something of an Enforcer. It was his job to make sure people understood what would happen if they didn't pay their 'protection fees' or if they tried to out-smart the Suns. This entailed a lot of execution style killings and a lot of strain on Tyler's moral compass. Sometimes, he just wanted to let them go but knew that his own life would be on the line if he did that.

After a few months of this work, Tyler ordered his custom armor and had it delivered to his apartment. He had also arranged a meeting with his old friend, Brutus, who agreed to take him to the Citadel for no fee. Of course, on the day he was planning on leaving, the Blue Suns caught wind of this. Not wanting a potential snitch to get to the Citadel, they set out to have Tyler exterminated. After a drawn-out firefight through the halls of Omega, Tyler made it to Brutus's besieged ship. After clearing the ship and the docks, the ship bolted from the asteroid station and to the relay that would take them through the galaxy to the Citadel.

So, now, here he was. Staring out at the Citadel's mass with little more than the stuff on his back and a little under four hundred thousand credits.

"I still don't understand the human fascination with putting representations of their skeletons on things."

Turning, Tyler saw Brutus step up next to him. The Turian was wearing a set of casual clothes, though Tyler couldn't imagine a Turian looking casual. The Turian clasped his talons behind his back and looked out the window at the passing Asari Dreadnaught.

"Magnificent. Isn't it? All these ships. All this firepower. Yet, we are still at war with each other. Citadel and Terminus, I mean," Brutus stated, briefly looking towards Tyler.

Tyler shrugged, "I guess it's just because one adheres to strict regulation and the other is no more than organized anarchy."

"Under Aria and the merc groups, you mean."

"Exactly Brutus. Way to be positive about it."

Brutus shrugged off the sarcasm with indifference before looking back at the helmet.

"Still wondering about the skull?"

"Yes, it just... intrigues me."

Tyler sighed as he looked back down at the skull, "I guess it just reminds us of our own mortality and that we don't live forever. That and, back when we were fighting with sticks and stones, skulls and bones were used to put fear into the other side's hearts. It was used to demoralize them. To show them that you no longer see either them or yourself as human."

"You humans sure had a weird way of fighting wars," Brutus concluded with a chuckle. Tyler chuckled as well,

"Yes we did."

The two were silent a bit longer until an intercom came to life, another flanging voice sounding through it, "Brutus, we need you on the bridge to process clearance."

The Turian turned his head upwards as he answered, "Okay, I'll be right there."

The intercom than went back offline without a response. Brutus and Tyler shook hands before Brutus walked out of the observation/recreation room. His weapons were sitting on a table to his immediate right, waiting to be retrieved. Yet, Tyler still held uncertainties about what he was doing and he was beginning to think if he was crazy. He had stable employment, was moving up the chain, making good money, was respected (if not feared), but instead he left all that to chase the idea of joining Shepard on his, or her, adventures through the stars.

However, nothing came from wondering what would happen. It came from doing. Soon, the intercom came back to life.

"Tyler, we've been cleared to dock but is there anywhere specifically you need to go?"

Tyler thought for a second. He knew the general location but not how to get there.

"Chora's Den," Tyler finally said with a sense of relief at having been able to remember the name. There was a pause before,

"You sure?"

"Hell yeah I'm sure. I've survived in the Blue Suns employment for years. I think I can handle some wannabe thugs if they cause trouble."

"Alright. I got transport secured for you. Get up to the bridge so I can properly, and formerly, kick your ass off."

Tyler chuckled as he secured his helmet onto his head, hefted the pack into place on his back and holstered his pistol. Finally, Tyler grabbed his Mattock and walked through the corridors to the bridge. It seemed like a short walk before he was standing in front of the airlock with Brutus. The former mercenary felt a talon clap him on the shoulder.

"I don't know why you wanted to come to the Citadel so badly, but I hope you find what your looking for. Stay strong and don't forget who your friends are."

"I won't Brutus. Thanks, a lot for everything."

"No problem kid. Now, I've been wanting to say this since your squad stepped on board years ago," Brutus took a deep breath and pointed his talon out the open airlock, "get the hell off my boat."

Tyler chuckled as he did a mock salute and jogged through the airlock, making sure to slow down as he exited. Before he finally walked out of the airlock, Tyler reached back and, painstakingly, attached his rifle to magnetic clips on the side of his pack.

After exiting, Tyler had found his ride and before he knew it, he was being dropped off at Chora's Den. A few heads turned to look his way but he just ignored them as he examined the double walkway that lead to and from Chora's Den. It was a sound defensible position for the thugs of the Den but, without proper fortifications, it would be just a walkway with men on it.

Many plans zoomed through his head as he stood there. One was to try to intercept Tali on her way to the clinic after she was shot but it was too late for that. Shepard would be showing up in the wards within the hour. Another was to rescue Tali himself but that would seem too convenient and he doubted Wrex would take him on as a sidekick.

As he looked at the silhouette of the Asari dancer, a thought came to his mind. Some may call it stupid or insane but he called it genius. He was new to this station, new enough at least. He could fake the whole 'lost tourist' routine and get caught on the wrong end of the Chora thugs when the time came. An explanation of how he came from Omega would explain why he had the armor and weapons.

_It's worth a shot _he thought to himself as he turned to go set up near the clinic. It wasn't long before he reached the clinic and picked a nice spot to stand at where he could see the clinic door but not easily be seen by Shepard, who would be in a hurry. He didn't have to wait long as he saw three armored humans come fast-walking towards the door. Two females and one male with one wearing a red stripe on one of her arms.

_Shepard's a female? Interesting... _Tyler thought to himself as he saw them open the door. As soon as the door began to open, Tyler began moving. Jogging with the large pack on his back was a pain but it did move him a bit faster. When he reached the double walkway, Tyler slowed his pace and moved towards the door carefully. It looked like they were already ready for Shepard's attack.

Getting near the door, Tyler set his pack down to look like he tossed it in a hurry. Taking his rifle from the pack, the former merc exhaled slowly before getting into position beside the door. Reaching over, he slammed the button and the door opened. Gunfire flew through the opening from the thugs inside while Tyler just ducked to the side. Finally, it began to subside. Taking a grenade, courtesy of his former employers, from his belt, Tyler turned the corner.

Activating the grenade with his left hand, the former merc tossed it to the left as he took cover behind the small wall to the right of the door. Coming up, Tyler aimed his Mattock at the bartender and fired. The powerful rifle easily tore through the shielding and brought the man down in a total of two shots. The explosion of the grenade sounded, as did the screaming of people getting shredded by the shrapnel. Having trained his rifle on the right flank, Tyler opened up on the thugs in that area.

The large rounds tore through them, leaving multi-colored blood on the walls as the techno music beat strongly in the background.

_Looks like they forgot to turn something off, _Tyler thought with a smile as he advanced forward on the right side. Coming around the bar, his shields flared as they took a hit from the Krogan bodyguard's shotgun.

"Son of a bitch," Tyler cursed as he used the bar for cover. He than cursed again as he saw a mass of thugs rush from the back room. Some tried to charge head-on while other began to swarm around the bar. Thinking fast, Tyler sprinted to one of the alcoves that held a table and flipped it onto it's side to turn the alcove into a defensible position. Now behind the table, Tyler popped up when the incoming fire was at it's lowest, popped off a few rounds and than took cover again.

The bang of the shotgun echoed over the techno, as did the rest of the gunfight. Among all the guns, however, the shotgun was the loudest.

_Damn it! Where the hell is Shepard? She was supposed to be here by now! _Tyler raged quietly as he pulled off another grenade. Priming this one, Tyler stood and faced the Krogan. Time seemed to freeze as he saw the Krogan leveling his shotgun. With his other hand still on his rifle, Tyler quickly brought it to bear from his hip and fired as he tossed the grenade. The round stunned the Krogan, throwing off his aim as the grenade stuck to him.

Ducking back down, Tyler heard the grenade explode before hearing and seeing bits of Krogan and blood slamming into the walls and across the bar. As he hid behind the table and was being pelted by enemy fire, a thought struck him.

_Of course! She's probably fetching Wrex!_ When the thought struck him, Tyler hit the forehead of his helmet against his rifle. _Stupid. Oh well. No going back._

"All I wanted was a damn drink!" he roared with a small smirk as he stood and began to open fire on the remaining thugs. He saw his shields flare but he knew they would hold... for now at least. His war cry was a half-lie as he did want a drink now.

Finally, the door to the bar slid open again and the thug closest to it was sent flying over the counter from a shotgun blast that echoed throughout the bar. Gunfire spilled through the door, scything through the thug ranks like a hot knife through butter. Five people than rushed in and took cover at the half-walls at the entrance. Three were the ones he saw outside the clinic, Shepard among them, while the other two were undoubtedly Wrex and Garrus. Not letting up, Tyler joined in on their massacre of the thugs. As the thugs fell back near the backdoor, Wrex began to advance in front of the others.

Jumping over his table, Tyler rushed towards the remaining thug position as they cowered in their cover. Quickly, Tyler holstered his rifle as he charged. Seeing one of the thugs coming back up to fire, Tyler pushed with his legs and dove. The thug made eye contact with Tyler's helmet before those eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. The armored man slammed into the thug and took him to the ground. Rolling over his form, Tyler jumped to a kneeling position, drew his pistol, and fired at the back of the remaining thugs.

One tried to punch the former merc but Tyler swatted his punch away with his left hand and holstered his pistol, wanting to try a hand-to-hand move on this man. Again, the man tried for a punch. This time, Tyler caught his wrist and slammed his open palm into the thug's elbow. The elbow bent into an unnatural shape with a loud pop. The man began to scream but was cut off as Tyler kicked him in the gut. With his air having left his system and a broken arm, the man stumbled backwards. Before he could regain his footing, his midsection exploded in a fantastical display of blood and guts.

Quickly, Tyler looked towards the shotgun wielder, expecting another fight. He was met with the sight of Wrex grunting and nodding in satisfaction at his kill. The Krogan was huge and the hump didn't help that observation. As Wrex examined Tyler and Tyler examined Wrex, the other four came up to join them. While Wrex seemed at ease, if you could say that for a Krogan, the other seemed apprehensive and ready to fill Tyler with holes if they needed to.

Seeing the four weapons pointed at him, Tyler raised his hands in front of him to look non-threatening,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Careful with those now."

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" asked the black armored woman with the red stripe down her arm. _Shepard._ Sadly for Tyler, she was wearing her breather helmet so all that he saw were a pair of green eyes which were looking very accusatory.

"Names Tyler Odom. Came here to get a drink and maybe ask if there was anyone around that were hiring bodyguards or security personnel."

"That's some pretty weird looking armor you got there," Ashley, wearing her usual pink and white armor, commented as she looked at him down the sights of her Assault Rifle.

"Custom ordered," Tyler explained, "That was my shit outside by the door. I swear, I came here for a drink and got caught off guard."

"You came here to drink in full gear and weapons?" questioned Alenko this time.

"I just got here from Omega. Nowhere to stay and the weapons are from my previous employment." a half-lie. They served him well in the Blue Suns but he did have them before he joined the Blue Suns.

"We're wasting time. I want to find Fist and let his head meet the wall," Wrex stated while looking at the backdoor in excitement.

"If your going after the guy who runs this place, I want to help. I would like to give him my suggestion... at muzzle velocity."

"I like this one Shepard," Wrex complimented with a nod. Shepard seemed reluctant but finally nodded her head and lowered her weapon. After her squad followed suit, she spoke again,

"Fine, you can come. Just don't expect us to trust you and don't prove to be a hindrance," she explained.

"Oh, trust me. I won't," Tyler replied with a hidden smile as he took out his rifle and let it unfold in his hands.

"Good," Shepard stated as she moved to the door, "let's move."

_**A/N: Howdy everyone. Sorry for the LONG wait between chapters but I have been a busy, busy bee. I... umm... also forgot about this story for a little bit. Ahem. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I admit, this might not be one of my best works but I am tired, and very distracted by the wanting to replay Mass Effect 3.**_

_**Please leave a review telling me what you think and/or chastising me for taking so long. Either one works. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon as I want to get through this and Mass Effect 2 and to Mass Effect 3, as well as doing the 'Interludes' between games. **_

_**No Jedi, but I sense a lot of work ahead of me. Oh, sorry, wrong fandom.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**History**

With the six of them, Fist's turrets went down easily. Fist himself, with some prodding from Wrex and Tyler, sang like a canary. He told them about the Quarian's request and more about the Shadow Broker. He also told them where they could find her.

"Let's move!" Shepard shouted after Wrex painted the back wall with Fist's brain matter. The random act of violence was met with indifference from everyone but Alenko, who showed surprise. With a sense of extreme urgency, the team sprinted from Fist's office to go save the Quarian.

When they got to the bar area, they were met by a wall of gunfire they lit up their shields.

"Hostiles!" Garrus shouted as the group dived into cover. Tyler bit back a smartass comment as he peeked over cover and opened fire with his Mattock. The power behind the rifle became evident as Tyler picked off thug after thug. With the incoming fire, soon his shields failed and the unbearable beeping sounded in his helmet. Ducking back into cover, Tyler waited for his shields to recharge.

"All hostiles down!" shouted Ashley, much to Tyler's surprise and dismay.

"Than move!" Shepard shouted, louder and more forceful than before. Again, the six of them went flying forward. When they exited the bar, however, Tyler remembered about his bag.

_Shit. _Not wanting his stuff stolen, Tyler stopped and quickly put on the pack. Sprinting again, Tyler stayed at a good pace but was still behind the main group. Finally though, he caught up with them when they were taking cover at the end of the alley. He ignored the incredulous looks he got from Ashley and Alenko and just peeked around the corner to see the Turian talking to the Quarian, who Tyler knew was Tali.

They had gotten there early and, therefore, watched the whole thing go down. That was until the weapons were drawn and the two Salarians began to move towards Tali. Shepard and Tyler were the first to fire, her rapid fire Avenger taking down the Turian as Tyler's Mattock tore through the first Salarian's shield and painted the wall green with it's blood. The second Salarian was taken down by combined fire with the finishing shot being Tali's shotgun.

As one, the team moved closer. Tyler walked over to one of the Salarian assassins and prodded the corpse with his foot while Tali began to talk.

"Fist set me up, I knew I couldn't trust him."

"Were you hurt in the fight?" came the soft reply from Shepard, though her voice was lightly synthesized by the breather helmet she wore.

"I know how to look after myself," Tali stated in an almost matter-of-fact tone, "Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?"

Tyler shook his head as he moved onto the Turian assassin and crouched down next to his corpse. _Arrogant, arrogant Tali. Also very naive, _he thought with a hidden smirk as he examined the Turian's face paintings out of boredom.

"My name's Shepard. I'm here to find evidence against Saren."

"Well, than I have a chance to repay you. But not here, we need to go somewhere safe."

Tyler heard one of the other squadmembers suggest the Ambassador's office and the ex-merc couldn't help from rolling his eyes. He hated Udina in game and he knew he'd hate him now. Soon, the whole entourage found themselves moving towards the office.

When they entered, Udina was already bitching about Shepard's activities. When he turned around, the look of surprise was almost enough for Tyler to burst out laughing. Almost, because Udina ruined it by speaking again.

"What is this Shepard? A Krogan? A Turian? A Quarian?" his eyes than set on Tyler, "And who's this?"

Tyler zoned it all out as Shepard explained that everyone was working against Saren as well and how she ran into them. He smiled when he heard her tell how she ran into him. Of course, Tyler than went back to 'zone the world out' mode, turned on some Hardstyle techno in his helmet and closed his eyes to enjoy the music.

His techno trance was cut short as he heard a vaguely familiar, evil voice through his music.

"Eden prime was a major victory. We are one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"That's Saren's voice." began Anderson immediately, "This proves he was involved in the attack!"

"Saren won't get out of this one," Shepard claimed.

Tali than mentioned there was more to the recording and again they listened to Saren's voice. However, this time, they heard a female voice speaking in the background about the Reapers. _Matriarch Benezia_ Tyler thought to himself. As they went on with their speculations, Tyler again found himself lost in his music.

Opening his eyes, Tyler found everyone looking at him expectantly. Quickly turning off the music, he assumed a confident pose,

"What?"

Shepard just shook her head as Anderson asked his question again, "What about you? You seem like the wild card in this situation. What have you got against Saren?"

"Well," Tyler began as he put his hand to his helmeted chin, having holstered his rifle on the way to the embassy, "it sounds like this Saren guy is going after all humans. I believe that's reason enough to hate him. And if he's working with the Geth. Well... that just gives me more reason to hate him."

Anderson just nodded. "Sounds reasonable. Alright, but we can't just have you walking about like that, you'll be stopped at every checkpoint. I'm field-enlisting you into the Alliance Military. We'll skip basic, since you seem to know how to use a gun and use it well, and you'll be the rank of Corporal. How does that sound to you?"

Tyler just shrugged. Honestly, this was going better than planned. It was going a little too better, actually. _Your just overly paranoid, _advised Tyler's rational side, _don't get like this. Not here. Not now._

"Sounds great Captain," Tyler responded with a textbook salute.

"Welcome aboard... Corporal," Shepard said with a nod as Tyler stepped into their little grouping.

"Alright. Anderson, come with me to present this evidence to the council. Shepard, you and your... crew, recollect yourselves before coming up to the tower."

With that, Udina left with Anderson in tow.

"It's people like him that made me call myself an Anarchist," Tyler muttered quietly.

"What's that?" asked Tali, who was a lot closer than Tyler expected. He just shook his head,

"Nothing."

"Hey Tyler, is it, what exactly did you do before you got yourself caught in a firefight at the bar?" This question came from Ashley, who stood with arms crossed and her weight put onto one leg. This question, of course, brought the attention of the others in the group. Tyler sighed as he took off his pack and set it down near the wall. After transferring his rifle to his back, and working out the kinks in his muscles, he faced the group.

Crossing his own arms, Tyler spoke clearly, "I was Blue Suns in the Terminus. Worked as a soldier for a bit before being thrown into policing duties on Omega."

Tyler paused and Garrus took this as his time to get into the conversation, "The Blue Suns have police?"

Tyler laughed lightly, with some pain ebbing into it on accident. "Yeah. We, my squad and me, were tasked with searching any and all vessels entering and leaving that district's docks for anything that may cause harm to Blue Sun's property or bank accounts. My squad leader, a Turian named Garin, was a good man. He kept us alert and ready for anything. However, nothing could have prepared us for what happened."

Tyler took a deep breath and put a hand to his visor before looking back up at them, "We were called in to check a ship. This happened a lot when it got busy, we'd be called during our time off to help the current squad on duty. This ship, however, docked unexpectedly. Flag number one was raised and, as such, we went in with weapons ready. Once inside, we found three bodies. The pilots was our conclusion. Looked like they committed suicide with the same weapon. One after another. Bang. Bang. Bang. Found another in the crew quarters while we moved to the cargo bay. One there, we began to examine the boxes for anything suspicious.

"I hang back. To examine the room a bit as there were only four aisles to be checked. I saw something on the wall and went to examine it. When it hit me on what it was, one of the crates exploded, tearing apart my team. The cargo doors than opened, spacing me and the corpses of my squad. To make things worse. Once I was spaced the damn ship blew up, sending me flying through a window and straight into the hands of some Eclipse soldiers."

Tyler stopped there while rubbing his neck. He than shrugged but remained silent.

"Who was it?" Kaiden asked.

"Hmm?"

"Whose symbol was it?"

"Cerberus," Tyler replied without hesitation. Silence filled the room before Ashley muttered a "Shit."

Finally, the silence was interrupted by Shepard, "I'm sorry for your loss but we should get moving. Come on."

"Yes ma'am," Tyler said as he began to follow her out of the room. He left his stuff in the office as he knew it'd be safe until he could transfer it onto the Normandy. Than he'd claim himself a spot in the cargo bay.

Before he could do that though, he had to deal with the Council. He seriously hoped they didn't piss him off as, now, he had a fully loaded gun and was not afraid to use it against annoying politicians if he got the chance.

_**A/N: Well, this went off nicely. Had to replay some of Mass Effect one though. Got some nice reminders on why I never wanted to go back. Cover system sucks. Guns suck. Conversations are long and pointless. Udina sounds like an ass and pisses me off with just his voice alone.**_

_**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this. Let me know if you think anything needs to be re-done. I'd appreciate it.**_


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